Kirkland talks Kent State

Cornerback Sam Kirkland out of Chesapeake (Va.) Deep Creek was one of many visitors to Kent State this past weekend. The 6-foot-0, 180-pounder had a good time, but was it enough t get him closer to a commitment?

"My visit to Kent was pretty good," he said. "I got to go around and see the campus and hang out with a bunch of guys from my area. My host was Jack Williams who is from Norfolk, I got to hang out with a bunch of guys from the 757 and talk to them.

"It was cool because we all know what each other have gone through; you rarely meet someone that far away from home. The thing all the guys said was they spoke very highly of the coaching staff. They told me about how they care for you, which is good."

While on the visit, the Commonwealth prospect took in a basketball game.

"It was a little cold and snowing outside," he said. "I did get to go to the basketball game and it was pretty wild. Their fans are really into Kent State, plus they won that night."

Of course, Kirkland spent time with the coaches, including head coach Doug Martin.

"I developed a really good relationship with the coaches and got to talk to coach Martin one-on-one," he said. "He's a nice guy that cares a lot about Kent State and is looking to continue to move them in the right direction. The thing I really liked about him was that he was straight forward and a players coach."

As far as rating the trip, Kirkland gave his visit to Kent an eight.

"It's so far away from home and it was very cold, but other than that it was a good trip and I had fun there," he said. "Compared to last week's trip to James Madison, I'd say JMU has better facilities, but Kent is Division I and they may have a little edge because of that."

At the moment, Kirkland claims he's down to those two programs although Syracuse and North Carolina have come in recently.

"Both of those schools have not offered and I'm not sure what they are doing," he said. "I'd have to find out more about them, but if they did offer and there was a chance I could play pretty early it probably would change things up for me."