Hemmila likes Big Ten school, others
Zach Hemmila has early offers from Arizona, Arizona State and Oregon State but the 2012 offensive guard from Chandler, Ariz., has a surprising favorite early on in his recruitment.
Ohio State has captured Hemmila's attention mainly because he grew up in Ohio and knows a lot about the Buckeyes. He still has friends in the area.
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Hemmila spent the first four years of his life in Tucscon and then moved to Ohio until eighth grade before moving back to Arizona so the Big Ten school holds a special place in his recruitment.
At first, Hemmila said he'd commit on the spot if Ohio State offered but has now considered staying closer to home after recent unofficial visits to games at Arizona and Arizona State.
"If I got an offer from Ohio State, I would commit right there," Hemmila said. "They don't look out here much and they already have (a bunch of) offensive linemen coming in from the 2011 recruiting class.
"Now after thinking about it I kind of want to stay in-state or go not too far from here because I don't want to leave my friends and family."
Hemmila has seen the Arizona-Iowa and Arizona State-Oregon games in consecutive weeks and was impressed with both places. Both the Wildcats and Sun Devils have something to offer him and he liked the game day atmosphere at both Pac-10 programs.
"When I got (to Arizona) I went on the field and watched the players warm up and they have a really cool warm up and then I was in the student section and it was a great atmosphere," Hemmila said. "The fans are awesome and the coaches are awesome. It was a great experience when I went to U of A.
"When I went to Arizona State on Saturday the fans are awesome and the way they come out on the field is awesome. It looks like an amazing experience there. I really like it."
LSU, UCLA, Alabama, Washington, Stanford and Colorado are showing interest in Hemmila, a 6-foot-3, 275-pound prospect who said he'd like to see games at UCLA, Washington and Oregon before the season is finished.
For now, though, he's more focused on helping Chandler win games than his recruitment. Since he's only a junior, Hemmila has more than enough time to worry about college.
"I'm really not trying to focus on that right now," Hemmila said. "I'm just trying to play football now. I'm trying to go see games.
"No one in my family has been through this so we're getting some advice from coaches and we're just trying to figure out the best way. Right now we're trying to plan out everything for the off-season and where I'm going to go."