McGee enjoys visit to UCF

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - One of the top players in the state of Florida is getting opportunities to play football all over the country. Lauderhill (Fla.) Plantation athlete Brandon McGee can virtually take his pick of schools to play football at in 2009 however one in-state program made a strong impression on him this past weekend.

McGee was at the Miami Nike Football Training Camp on Sunday where he didn't compete due to a hamstring injury but did talk about his visit just a day earlier to UCF.

"The UCF trip went pretty well," McGee said. "Me and (Plantation teammate) Josh Robinson went up there Saturday morning. UCF definitely opened up my eyes. It was probably a school that I could have overlooked before the trip but now I'm going to take a close look at them."

The trip was a success due in large part to the interaction with the coaching staff.

"The coaching staff, they all greeted us with open arms," he said. "The facilities are real nice. Coach Godsey, the quarterbacks coach is the one that recruits our area and he was sitting with Josh and me on the bus explaining everything to us about what each building was and what they do in each building.

"We also talked to Coach Blackney the DB coach and Coach O'Leary. He seemed like a pretty good guy. He told a couple jokes."

Beyond the coaching staff there was another factor that caught McGee's attention.

"They just graduated four seniors in the defensive backfield," he said. "Depth chart will be a big factor in my decision because playing time is a factor that's important."

The next scheduled stop on McGee's college tour is a trip up to Columbus, Ohio to see Ohio State's Spring Game. He will be joined by one and possibly two more of the Buckeyes' top targets.

"I'll be at Ohio State April 18," he confirmed. "I actually had my plane ticket already bought on Skybus but they went out of business so I have to get another one. (Miami Palmetto running back) Jaamal Berry is going with me. He's definitely going up. (Plantation teammate and safety) Vladimir Emilien has to see what the situation is with tickets but he wants to go up too."

At this point in the process, McGee is beginning to develop a favorite or two on his long list of interested parties but he is not in any hurry to reveal who those favorites are.

"I have a favorite," he said. "There's like two or three schools that stand out to me. I don't want to make that public though. I want to keep things quiet for now."