Two more visits for Howard

St. Louis (Mo.) Ladue Horton Watkins defensive end Nate Howard will take two more official visits this month before deciding if he wants to stick with his Wisconsin commitment.

"I am still currently committed to (Wisconsin)," Howard said. "It is a soft commitment, but I've pretty much opened up and am taking a couple visits."

An official visit to Syracuse is scheduled for the weekend of Jan. 16 and Howard's final official visit will go to Missouri the weekend of Jan. 23.

"Those will be my last two visits. I'm pretty excited to go see both of them," Howard said. "Syracuse is a lot different compared to my other offers. Syracuse is the farthest of them all and it is a different city than what I am used to. I am excited just to see if I can see myself there considering it is a big difference.

"There are definitely some home state fans here that are encouraging me to attend Mizzou and play at home. I listen to it, but at the end of the day I am going to choose where I want to play for myself."

Howard took his official visit to Wisconsin the weekend of Nov. 28, and he followed it up with trips to Indiana and Illinois the first two weekends in December.

"Illinois has always impressed me since my junior year," Howard said. "They were the first school to start recruiting me and have been in contact with me ever since. The visit was everything I expected and I was definitely impressed. It gave me a good feel for Illinois and definitely boosted them a little bit.

"I'd say one of the biggest things that I liked was the family atmosphere that the coaches and players all teach. You can definitely sense it is a family when interacting with them. And, if you're a good player coming in, you're going to get a chance to play so that is a big thing also."

Illinois' campus in Champaign is less than a three-hour drive from Howard's home, which is one of the positives the Illini have going for them in this recruitment.

"Their location does (interest) me," Howard said. "At one point in time it wasn't that big of a factor, but it is starting to become more (of a factor)."

Howard planned to take all five official visits before Wisconsin went through a coaching transition last month, but he now has to build a relationship with new head coach Paul Chryst.

"I talked to him a few weeks ago and he seems like a pretty nice guy," Howard said. "We talked about him coming down and visiting me and my family to get a better feel for him. Based on what I've heard he seems like a really good coach and he has some history with Wisconsin, so that's good."

The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Howard does not plan on making a return trip to Madison prior to National Signing Day. His final decision will come once he completes these last two official visits.