Long excited about Illinois

Westerville (Ohio) South junior tight end Darryl Long picked up an offer from Illinois back in November. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound prospect made his first visit back to Champaign since receiving that offer on Saturday for the Illini's junior day.

"I am very excited about Illinois," Long said. "It's early in my recruitment and I want to keep my options open, but it is definitely a school that I will keep in contact with. The school itself really provides opportunities for finding jobs and getting a degree. The coaches are real down to earth as well."

Long was accompanied on the visit to Illinois by his father, and they spent much of their time talking with several members of the Illini coaching staff.

"I talked to Coach [Alex] Golesh a lot and we were talking about how I would fit into their offense," Long said. "I talked to the new offensive coordinator and he broke down his offensive scheme and how he would use the tight ends more. I talked to the head coach as well about what I am looking for in a school. Overall it was a good conversation."

Long caught 24 passes for 424 yards and four touchdowns as a junior. He has the ability to make plays in the passing game as well as be an in-line blocker, and Illinois is looking to utilize his entire skill set if he were to choose them.

"They see me as a hybrid," Long said. "They are going to use their tight ends a lot in the pass game, which I think is cool because that's something I have worked hard at and I can create mismatch problems with linebackers and safeties."

Shortly after wrapping up his junior day visit with Illinois, Long made a call out to Indiana assistant coach Seth Littrell - a call that yielded his sixth scholarship offer of the recruiting process.

"He said he really liked me and saw me at my school a few days ago," Long said. "He said he was going to offer me and wants me to come down and see their school. He said I fit into their scheme comfortably."

Long is looking at the March 2 date to visit Indiana, which will allow him to see a Hoosiers spring practice as well as a home basketball game. His next planned campus visit will be to Pittsburgh this coming weekend.