Roberts has trips upcoming

Carmel, Ind., four-star wide receiver Austin Roberts added three offers in the last two weeks to bring his total to 13. He has not attended any junior days this winter, but does have plans to see several schools this spring.

"I am going to the University of Florida and also Miami during the first week of April for my spring break," Roberts said. "The week after I think I am going to Ohio State's spring game."

Roberts played his first two years of high school football at Plant High School in Tampa, Fla., and looks forward to his return to the Sunshine State next month.

"A lot of my family lives down in Miami and throughout Florida," Roberts said. "It is very tempting to go to school there, but I have to look at the big picture: what place is the best fit for me and what place sets me up best for the future and what I want to do."

Florida and Miami, as well as Ohio State, were among Roberts' first 10 scholarship offers. His newest offers come from Kentucky, Nebraska and Maryland. The Wildcats' offer came two weeks ago, and Roberts has already built a relationship with his primary recruiter.

"They are starting to reach out toward the Midwest," Roberts said. "The coach recruiting me, Chad Scott, is from the Tampa area, so me and him relate pretty well. He has been doing a great job telling me about the school and he says they are running the 'Air Raid' offense from Texas Tech, so I will be have a chance to play early and get my hands on some balls."

The offers from Maryland and Nebraska came within the last week. Both are schools he is interested in learning more about.

"[Nebraska] was really exciting," Roberts said. "I have a couple Nebraska alums in my neighborhood, so news spread about that and there has been a lot of Nebraska going around in my life so far. I am definitely going to need to go down there are some point, whether it be this spring or the summer. You don't sell out your stadium for 50 years in a row for nothing.

"I didn't know too much about Maryland, but they are a pretty good school and the coach I spoke with told me it is right by the Capitol," Roberts said. "That is really interesting, and we are probably going to get up there at some point because I have family out there."

With 11 months left until National Signing Day, Roberts is in no rush to make his final college selection and has yet to list his favorites.

"Earlier this year I wanted to narrow down my list to five schools by the end of spring," Roberts said. "But now with more teams jumping on the boat and new interest, I think I may just slow it down a little bit and take some more visits throughout the summer."

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Roberts played primarily tight end for Tampa Plant as a sophomore, but transitioned into more of a receiver role for Carmel High this past fall. Different college programs have designs on him playing either of those roles in college.

"I know Miami, Ohio State and Florida are recruiting me as more of the Aaron Hernandez-type of tight end -- not really a hand-in-the-ground, but moving around," Roberts said. "Everyone else is more of a receiver that they can use to [create] mismatches with."

Roberts started off the 2014 class as the highest-ranked prospect in the state of Indiana, and the No. 160 overall prospect in the country.