Knight has a great visit to Colorado

Detroit (Mich.) Renaissance safety Derek Knight took his first official visit of the season out West to Colorado last weekend. The 6-foot-0, 192-pounder had a good visit despite the Buffaloes loss.

"It was great and very enjoyable," he said. "I got there on Saturday morning and the first thing I did once I got there was eat and go to the game. Then I watched the pregame stuff with the coaches and after the game I went out to eat and hung out with the players. That night I hung out with my host Brad Jones who was really fun and cool. He told me there's a definite need at my position and thinks I fit in well on the defense. He even believes I could possibly play early.

"Then on Sunday, I did a lot of the academic stuff and was able to talk to coach Hawkins. I had a nice long, man-to-man conversation with him and I think we have a mutual understanding about academics and a goal of winning a championship. He also went on to say that when he talks to players he asks them what they want to do and most just say play football. That's when he tells them to find another university because he believes he can help you at getting a degree and being successful in football and I respect that."

Though they lost to Arizona State, Knight liked what he saw on the field.

"It was unfortunate they lost, but as I was watching it I tried to pick out the positives and negatives," he stated. "I do believe they have a young team and some guys are very inexperienced at spots. I think with time the team can definitely do better and win games. I did like that the strong safety gets to the ball since that's what I'd likely play. He gets in the box and causes problems in run defense and has a big role in the pass defense too by giving him a lot of space. As for the atmosphere, it was pretty wild even though the stadium wasn't completely full."

In rating the visit, the No. 19 safety in the country gave his trip a 9.5.

"It's hard since I can't compare it to other trips yet, but I'd say it was very high probably around a nine or 9.5," he said. "The people there are very down-to-earth and the players are good guys."

Knight plans to make another trip out West in a couple weeks to Arizona State and is starting to look at other officials.

"I'm going to Arizona State on September 29th and then I'm looking t set one up with West Virginia," he said. "I do think I'll probably go to Iowa too and then I'm leaving the last visit open.

"I picked those schools because they keep in close contact with me and are good programs that win games. I want to go to each of them to see it for myself so that I know if I fit in there."

As for a decision, the No. 13 player in Michigan believes he's getting close.

"I think I'm almost to a decision," he said. "I'm going to take a few of these visits and then start wrapping it up."