Virginia, Rutgers next for Nixon

New Haven (Conn.) Hyde Leadership athlete Jamie Nixon is headed on his first official visit to Virginia this weekend and will then follow that up with a trip to Rutgers next week. What does the 6-foot-1, 177-pounder hope to see out of both visits?

"I just want to see if I could be comfortable at either of those schools for the next four years," he said. "I want to see if I fit in with everybody there and check out the atmosphere. Besides that, I'm just looking to have a good time.

"I like Rutgers and Virginia because they've been with me since summer camp. They are both very honest and straightforward and constantly show interest in me. I really feel like I can trust them."

The big news this week in the college football world is that Virginia has lost a handful of their coaches because of promotions. How does this affect Nixon?

"It's kind of crazy because I made a bond with coach D'Onofrio and I think that could play a role in my decision, but not too much of one," he said. "I'm hoping to go into this visit and stay open-minded about the new coaches."

Four other schools the three-star prospect is looking at are Connecticut, North Carolina, Maryland and Nebraska.

"I'm very used to Connecticut since I've been around them the last couple years, I know their background and everything," he said. "I got into North Carolina because of my brother and they are one of those teams I really like a lot, but I've got to find out more about them. Maryland is my childhood favorite. Finally, Nebraska is very interested in me and I like them because they produce good players and are an athletic team. I'd still say all the schools are pretty even."

Nixon helped Hyde Leadership to their second straight 12-0 season.

"I had a pretty good year, although I didn't get to do too much on defense because nobody wanted to throw against our secondary," he said. "I finished the year with 34 tackles. On offense I ran for 1,600 yards and 18 touchdowns. I really improved in that aspect of my game by being able to read cutback lanes better and I got a lot stronger too."