One of the first schools he started talking to but one of the last to make him an offer, the Hoosiers received his commitment June 19, 2016, after an unofficial visit Reece had taken to Bloomington earlier in the year.
The 6-foot-3, 210- pound defensive end from Clearwater, Florida, is a 247Sports Composite three-star recruit.
He is one of 17 players currently committed to IU in the 2017 recruiting class and will play under Coach Tom Allen.
He shared a little insight into his recruitment with the Indiana Daily Student and why he made the decision to be one of the many Florida natives to become Hoosiers.
What other schools were recruiting you, and what led you to choose IU instead of those schools?
“UCF was talking to me a lot, Iowa State, Illinois. They were pretty much like the top schools talking to me.
“Overall I just felt most comfortable with Indiana. It’s a great school all around, and the program is on the rise.
“They’re going in the right direction. Even after the coach left, I still feel like they have the pieces they need and are still continuing to climb.”
What IU coaches were the main coaches in your recruitment, and how did they foster a relationship with you?
“I mostly talked to Coach (Greg) Frey because he went to my high school, so we had that connection already, and then Coach (Mark) Hagen, being a D-line coach, I talked to him a lot.
“Those were my recruiting coaches, but as far as building a relationship, as I said me and Frey went to the same high school so we were already connected that way.
“Then, just picking Hagen’s mind, that’s just one of the best things I’ve ever done. Just being able to talk to him, both of them, that was pretty cool.”
What other recruits did you talk with during your recruitment?
“I was talking to Tyler Knight from Northside (Christian School) and Tom Allen’s son from Plant (High School), the coach’s son.
“I was talking to them a lot and kept saying how they’re one of the best on-the-rise teams for football because they’re really well-known for basketball, but they’re on the rise in football. I was talking to them a lot about that.”
With the coaching changes, are other schools trying to capitalize on any possibility uncertainty?
“I wouldn’t say that they’re talking to me more, but they are still talking to me. Nothing really that different.”
