Illinois impresses Caesar

Miami (Fla.) Coral Park wide receiver Juwan Caesar has seen his recruitment pick up steam over the past month with a handful of offers coming in. One of those offers came from Illinois, the school which he took his first official visit to this past weekend.

"It was nice, it was great," Caesar said of the visit.

He talked a bit about what he learned during the visit.

"The first thing I really got to do was watch practice," Caesar said. "I liked watching it, it was fun, a lot of energy, everybody was getting involved.

"We took a tour of the academic facilities," Caesar added. "They talked to us about how their players always graduate."

Throughout the visit, Caesar received a lot of attention from a pair of the Illini's coaches.

"I had a chance to get to know Coach (Paul) Petrino and Coach (Ron) Zook," Caesar said. "Coach Petrino was telling me that if I come and put in the work, I probably have a good chance of starting as a freshman. They were telling me that they need a player like me in their offense. He told me I have all the potential to become an All-American type wide receiver there. He said he would be able to bring it out of me. Coach Petrino is a good receivers coach."

While Petrino, Illinois' offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach, put on the hard sell with Caesar, most of what he said rang true to the talented 6-foot-4, 210-pound wide receiver from what he was able to see during his limited viewing of their bowl practice.

"I like their offense, I like what they are running," Caesar said. "I could see myself fitting into it nicely."

During the visit, Florida native Darius Millines hosted Caesar. Caesar said he quickly hit it off with the freshman wide receiver.

"He was telling me that it is a good place to be," Caesar said. "He talked about getting a chance to play as a freshman. He was talking about how they have other players at the school from Florida too, so you don't get homesick and stuff like that."

With the visit now concluded, Caesar says that Illinois has made a major impact on his recruitment.

"They are somewhere up high on my list," Caesar said. "I don't have a top three or anything like that right now, but they are pretty high."

With a decision likely not coming until National Signing Day, Caesar plans to see at least two more schools for sure.

"I am planning to go to the University of Florida on January 14th," Caesar said. "I am going to UCF on January 28th and maybe visiting USF."

The Gators, who have yet to offer, just hired Will Muschamp to replace Urban Meyer. Caesar is hoping to learn a good deal about the newest Gator head coach between now and when he meets him in person on his visit.

"I have never heard much about him," Caesar said. "I am just going to try to do my research on him and try to get to know him."

Caesar currently holds offers from Florida International, Illinois, South Florida, Toledo, and Central Florida. Numerous other schools are showing interest.