Blake Nichelson is beginning to make some real progress with his recruitment as he continues to sort through the options on his offer list. The two-way player from Manteca, California has seen his stock rise this spring. After a rush of offers earlier in the year, he has utilized the last several weeks to see some of the schools on his list in person.

Visits to USC, Oregon, Cal and Utah have taken place giving the 6-foot-3 linebacker and running back a better opportunity to see where he stands with the programs in the mix, while also giving him a stronger understanding of what each school has to offer.

The trips have been helpful for Nichelson as he is starting to take a stronger look at the programs that will earn his official visits in the coming months.

“Definitely going around gives me an overview of the program, and seeing how the daily life is there with the players and what they have to go through,” he said. “So, it definitely helps me know how each college works, how all of them are different and what my daily life would look like.”

It was a fast rise for Nichelson, who was highly-productive on both sides of the ball during 2021 at Manteca, and his list of options has expanded since the end of his junior season. Because of that, Nichelson has started to put more emphasis on certain parts of the process over others.

Personal connections with coaches are going to be even more important moving forward than he originally planned, and that has been a big area of focus for Nichelson on his recent visits.

“Well, definitely I feel like my relationships with these coaches are a big thing,” he said. “On these visits it gives me an overview of how much of a priority I am to them and how much I actually do mean to the program. So, I think relationships with the coaches is definitely a huge thing going forward in the recruiting process right now.”