TE Hiben is in a holding pattern

Chaska, (Minn.) tight end prospect Joey Hiben (6-foot-5, 235 pounds) from Waconia High School is enjoying his summer so far, keeping busy by playing AAU basketball. Hiben is also in a holding pattern in regards towards his football recruiting, and especially with one school in particular.

"Things have been going pretty well so far this summer," Joey Hiben said. "I'm just heading back from an AAU basketball game, and I'm sitting with 4 other guys right now that are all over 6-foot-4 in a Pontiac Vibe. It's almost like those car commercials where the really tall guys fit into a really small car. It's pretty funny to see."

Hiben talked about his football recruiting.

"I still really like Notre Dame a lot at this point, and I'm going to give Coach (Greg) Mattison a call this week to see where I stand with Notre Dame. I've received a few hand-written letters from him since I returned from the Notre Dame camp telling me to hang in there. It certainly wouldn't be the end of the world if I don't land an offer from Notre Dame, but I also want to know if I should keep Notre Dame on my list or not. I have a ton of great offers at this point, and I want to start focusing on those schools the rest of the summer."

Hiben hasn't totally written off the idea of making a few unofficial visits this summer, but it's also not looking good at this point.

"At this point I'm not sure if I'll have the time to make any unofficial visits this summer, but I might try. For me it's just very hard to get a good idea about a school in the summer. You can see buildings and facilities, but I also like to get a vibe from the students and the players when they are on campus and in school."

Joey Hiben has scholarship offers from Minnesota, Central Florida, Kansas, Indiana, Colorado State, Colorado, Purdue, Stanford, Missouri, Northwestern, Boston College, Texas Tech and Colorado.