Florida LB visits NC State

North Carolina State had two visitors from Oakland Park (Fla.) Northeast this weekend. One of the prospects was 6-foot-1, 196-pound linebacker Josh Hartigan who thoroughly enjoyed his visit despite the Wolfpack's surprising loss to Akron.

"It was a great experience for me and everyone up there is real nice," he said. "They all took care of me and the coaches kept it real about what could happen if I decide to go there. It was real nice to be able to hang out with one my friends, Audi Augustin who committed there last year. He was my host and just told me that if I went there and worked hard I'd have a chance of getting very early playing time."

The two-star prospect was kept very busy on his trip to Raleigh.

"We flew out there on Thursday and I got there at night," he said. "Then on Friday, I ate breakfast and toured the campus. I also saw the football facilities and was able to sit in on a class. Later in the day I sat in on positional meetings with the players and then at night I hung out with Audi some more.

"On Saturday, I had breakfast with the team and then went to the stadium. I watched the walk of champions. Then finally today I talked to a few of the coaches including coach Dunlap, Stroud and Chuck Amato. They all basically said that they need linebackers there and it was true, they weren't just lying to get me up there and I respected that."

Of course, a big part of the visit was the game between the Wolfpack and Zips.

"It was a real good game and a wonderful experience. The crowd was crazy and really loud," he said. "I could tell NC State had a real good defense and the only reason things broke down for them was because they had to play so much, they got tired at the end of the game. Even though they lost, I can saw that doesn't bother me at all. Everybody goes through one fo those and I think they can bounce back."

All in all, Hartigan had a good trip to North Carolina State.

"Oh man, it was a real good experience and I enjoyed it up there," he said. "Everyone was laid back and things weren't hectic like they are in Fort Lauderdale. As of right now, the visit there puts NC State very high on my list, but I'm not going to make any choices now. I want to figure out what I want to do and get as many visits done before December since I'm graduating early."

Next up for the Florida linebacker appears to be a trip to Pittsburgh.

"I'm actually supposed to go to Pitt sometime soon," he said. "I want to go there because they have real nice facilities and coach Partridge is a very nice guy."