Crawford reacts to Miami visit

Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edward class of 2015 cornerback Shaun Crawford has wanted to visit Miami since the Hurricanes offered back in March. This past weekend Crawford and his mother were able to make that trip.

"I loved it. The campus, the feel… everything was great when I was there," Crawford said. "We met Coach [Brennan] Carroll down there and he showed us around. I got to see Lebron's house and visit Sun Life Stadium. It was just fun.

"The only thing I wanted to get more of was, all the coaches weren't there and I didn't get to tour some of the academic buildings. Definitely when I get back there, that will be something I look forward to."

The distance from his Cleveland-area home to South Florida makes traveling to Miami to evaluate the school difficult, but now that he has the possibility of playing for the Hurricanes is stronger.

"It's definitely realistic now," Crawford said. "My mom said she enjoyed the visit and liked the place. She also wants to see more of the academic part of the school, so we'll definitely have to take another trip back. It may be sometime after the season because that is when I have the most time to go back down."

Crawford had been considering a summer decision, but with a desire to return to Miami as well as visit a few other places, the rising junior now expects his recruitment to go out into his junior year.

"I want to get up to a Michigan game and want to see what the atmosphere is like," Crawford said. "I see a lot of them on TV, so I kind of want to see one for myself. That is also why I may take it out a little further."

Michigan was Crawford's favorite school growing up, and he was able to work out at their camp in June.

"It definitely brought me closer to Michigan," Crawford said. "I went to the camp and worked with the DB coach and that was really good. I got to work hands-on with the coach, and that's something everyone should want to do. It got me a feel on how he coaches, what his techniques are and how I can use it to become a better player."

Earlier this summer Crawford mentioned Michigan and Miami as two schools who were likely to make his top five, but other schools are still in the hunt for his services.

"It's definitely not just Michigan and Miami," Crawford said. "I am open to all, but right now those are the two I am taking a close look at. They have an edge on other places because I've visited there and know so much about them.

"I've recently talked to Notre Dame. They are highly interested. If Notre Dame were to come into the picture and offer, I would definitely take a look at that school."

Other schools that have offered the 5-foot-9, 165-pound Crawford are Arkansas, Cincinnati, Florida State, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, Penn State, Tennessee and West Virginia.