QB in the middle of long road trip

Hutson Mason has been a busy prospect this month. He's in the middle of a long road trip where he's visiting seven schools in all. So far he has been to Iowa, Indiana and Purdue. Tomorrow he heads for North Carolina.

"I was at Iowa and Indiana," Mason said. "Today I was at Purdue. They haven't offered yet but I think they will soon. I have a good relationship with them and feel that I impressed the coaches there. It's a place where I feel real comfortable.

"I threw it well at Indiana. They offered and that's going to be a program on the rise. They will throw it out of the shotgun. The campus is nice.

"Iowa was terrific. I mean I love it there. Yes they were my first offer but that's not why I like them so much. I have a real good friend that plays there and this time around I had a real good chance to see everything like their education center and stuff like that. I had a really good meeting with coach (Ken) O'Keefe.

"Tomorrow I head to North Carolina where I will visit N.C. State, North Carolina and East Carolina. I think I could get offers from N.C. State and ECU and there's a good chance UNC could offer me soon. Then on Monday I will check out Troy."

The Hawkeyes are currently his team to beat. Can any topple the Hawkeyes for his signature?

"Iowa is my No. 1 school and they are going to be tough to beat. They have impressed me tremendously. It will be hard for someone to beat Iowa for me. I just love coach (Kirk) Ferentz and his staff. They will be there for my career. He's not leaving and playing time is wide open. Iowa is a great place. I have family there and it is really a home away from home."

All told Mason will have visited these seven schools in 17 days and thrown on 14 of those. He will welcome the rest but will he be ready for a decision?

"I will finish this off and see where I stand with everyone. Now, teams like Tennessee are starting to recruit me hard. I have been hearing from them a lot and I have talked with coach (Jim) Chaney. He wants me to come up to camp with them (this month) but I just couldn't work it out. Right now I would say I could have a decision sometime in mid-July."