RB Hines gives the latest

It has been a busy summer for Nyheim Hines. The star running back out of Garner (N.C.) has racked up the frequent flier miles taking visits this summer and recently took more visits to SEC country to see Georgia and Florida.

"Georgia is a great school," said the 5-foot-8, 178-pound Hines. "I'm really close with Keith Marshall. I've known him since he was about 10 and I was eight. His brother and our families are close so it was great to go down there and see him and meet the coaches. I finally met coach Lilly and coach Richt in person so that great. I've always liked coach McClendon so it was a great visit.

"Florida was nice," he said. "I didn't know what to expect in Gainesville. It kind of surprised me when I got there. I always thought the University of Florida was going to be in a metropolitan area but it's really a college town. There's nothing wrong with that.

"I finally met coach Muschamp in person so that was nice," Hines said. "I also saw the facilities. I met Matt Jones. I met a lot of the coaches and Chris Leak. That was crazy. I watched him on TV when he was winning the national championship. I like that coaching staff."

Hines was hoping to name a short list within the next two weeks.

"I wanted to cut my list down before our first game next week but I don't think that's going to happen," he said. "I'll hopefully cut it down before mid-September because I need to. I plan on committing in October but I don't really have a timeframe set.

"I don't really know where I would like to take official visits," said Hines. "I would like to go back to Ohio State and maybe visit there, maybe West Virginia too. I have my work cut out for me because I really don't know. I plan on taking all five of my official visits before I commit."

Recently, Emanuel McGirt said that he and Hines would really like to play together in college. Hines echoes that same sentiment.

"Yes, it's very true," he said. "I would love to play with him blocking for me. It would make me feel a lot more comfortable, I can promise you that. We would like to play together and we talk about colleges all the time. Maybe when he goes to Florida and Georgia I'll go with him but we really take some more visits together to see how it is."

Hines has clearly done a lot of research and feels good about a handful of schools.

"I feel the most comfortable around the staff at Georgia, Florida, Duke, N.C. State and West Virginia," Hines said. "There are other coaching staffs I like too but I those are the ones I can quickly think of. Ohio State, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech and South Carolina are also some schools I feel comfortable with."

Last season Hines racked up 3,150 yards, about 620 receiving yards, and 62 touchdowns overall, 50 rushing, eight receiving, two kick returns and two passing.