Canadian OT making visits
With most of the top prospects in the class of 2013 having already made their commitments, college programs still looking for top talent are taking the road less traveled to find hidden gems.
Brantford, Ont., is located on one of those roads, but that is where offensive tackle David Knevel can be found, and several BCS programs have already searched out the 6-foot-8, 295-pound Canadian prospect.
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Knevel has picked up offers from Missouri, Purdue and Wisconsin. He will follow up the Purdue offer with a visit to West Lafayette this coming weekend.
"It was a huge surprise when they offered me," Knevel said of Purdue. "They sent me an email and said the coach has great news and to give them a call. He offered me on the phone and I was really surprised.
"I was looking to go there even before I got the offer to learn as much as I can. Now that they have offered me, I am going to get a great feel for the campus and take out as much as I can during the time I am there.
Knevel also plans to stop at Toledo this weekend for a visit with the Rockets. He will then head down to SEC programs Vanderbilt and Alabama the weekend of Aug. 17 for visits with those schools.
"I think Vanderbilt is pretty interested. I contact them a lot," Knevel said. "Alabama asked me to come down to a camp of theirs, but it was really short notice and I missed it. They were straight up in saying they want me to see me still and they will look at game film."
Knevel's upcoming visits were preceded by several trips earlier this summer, including a stop at another Big Ten program this past weekend.
"I was just at Michigan State," Knevel said. "It went very well, they really liked me but they are not really rushing into an offer. They want to see how things play out, but it went really well, I had a lot of fun and had some one-on-one time with the coaches.
"They are a great group of guys. I got to meet a lot of freshman players who are arriving there. I got along well with them and they seem like a good group of guys."
The offer from Missouri came after Knevel attended a spring game in Columbia as well as the Tigers' summer camp.
"I really like Missouri, especially Coach [Brian] Jones," Knevel said. "He is a great guy and they have great facilities and great players. It was a great feeling coming out of there."
Knevel had previously attended a junior day in Madison before picking up the Badgers' offer. He also attended Wisconsin's summer camp.
"I worked with Coach [Mike] Markuson," Knevel said. "He was a great guy and I really liked him as a coach. I thought he and I really connected on the coaching level."
Knevel said he is open to taking official visits in the fall. He has no set game plan beyond the visits these next couple weekends and is "going with the flow" at this stage of the process.