Hazelton visits BC, earns new offers

Staten Island (N.Y.) Moore Catholic wide receiver Vidal Hazelton just got back from a trip to Boston College. Did the Eagles get make up any ground on Hazelton's current favorites and what new schools have offered the Emire State standout?

"It was nice, everything about it was good, that school has really good academics, that's a plus," he said. "It's a really nice school and the campus is pretty small and that was the only negative thing about it. The facilities are nice and I'm impressed with that too. They have a real nice coaching staff; they said they are recruiting me hard and that right now I'm the top wide receiver on their list. They also said they were very impressed with my tape.

"I got to meet some of the players including Brian Toal and some of the wide receivers on the team too," he said. "They're nice kids who didn't have anything negative to say about the school. The scrimmage was live and hitting out there, it was exciting out there and you can tell they're excited about entering the ACC. I like the fact that they were throwing a lot of deep routes, which intrigued me a lot."

Where does the visit put Boston College in Hazelton's mind?

"I'm open to all the colleges right now," he said. "I don't have a top five, I can say I'm interested in Boston College, but I'm interested in all of them."

Rumors have swirled that Hazelton may be close to a decision. Is there any merit to this?

"I said personally I'd like to get it done quickly," he said. "I'm still open to everybody though and I'm still checking out the coaches and stuff too."

Besides taking a recent visit, the 6-foot-2, 192-pounder also picked up offers from Ohio State and Syracuse.

"Ohio State is big-time football," he said. "That's a great school and Ohio State speaks for itself. There's not too much else to say about them than that.

"Syracuse is a good school that's close to home," he said. "They've been recruiting me, but they surprised me with the offer. They have been sending me mail and I never got a chance to speak to them, but it's a plus if I'm thinking about staying at home."

This spring Hazelton is looking to impress at the Penn State Nike Camp and Elite College Combine. He still has no idea where he is looking to attend summer camp.

Last season Hazelton ran for 240 yards and four touchdowns, he added 39 receptions for 784 yards and 17 touchdowns. On defense, he posted 28 tackles and three sacks.