IU remains at top of lineman's college list

Even though he missed a flight and spent unnecessary hours in the Atlanta airport, offensive tackle recruit Dimitric Camiel enjoyed his first visit to IU last weekend.

Rivals.com rates Camiel as a three-star, six-foot-six-inch 290-pound offensive tackle from Westfield High School in Houston. During his visit, which began when he arrived in town Thursday night, he and his fellow recruits toured the facilities, including Memorial Stadium.

“The stadium is beautiful,” Camiel said. “It’s one of the best college stadiums I’ve seen. I really liked it. I liked the whole setup of how you can basically just stay in one place the whole day except for your classes and your sleep time.”

Camiel said he enjoyed the social parts of his visit, as well. He plans to visit Arizona State this weekend and Mississippi State next weekend and said he hopes to get a visit to local University of Houston. Camiel said the former coaches at Houston were very interested in him, but he hasn’t had much contact with the new coaches.

“You just can’t beat the closeness to my home, having people come and watch me play, but I haven’t really met with the new coaching staff,” Camiel said. “The old coaching staff liked me a lot. They still weren’t No. 1 on my list — it was IU — but I’ll check out the new coaching staff and see how things go.”

IU has occupied the top spot on his list since he met Offensive Line Coach Greg Frey and IU Coach Kevin Wilson last spring. Camiel said Mississippi State is his second choice, and Arizona State and Houston are competing for third. The coaches’ rèsumès have helped convince Camiel to place IU high on his list, but the University’s location works against it.

“They’re going to do a lot of good things in this coming season, and I want to be a part of that,” Camiel said. “The only thing that really bothers me is the distance from my home, and my family won’t be able to come and watch me play.”

Camiel spent his time with players such as freshman quarterback Tre Roberson, freshmen offensive linemen Bernard Taylor and Ralston Evans and junior center Will Matte, as well as other recruits.

Camiel said he didn’t get to watch many IU football games during the fall because of his commitment to his own football season. By talking to players like Roberson or Matte, he learned about the team’s 1-11 season and how IU was close to winning some games but struggled in others.

He said that, to have a turnaround season, you have to have a poor season before.

“In every year, you’re not going to be undefeated,” Camiel said. “You’re not going to have a winning record. The good thing about it is there’s a possibility to turn things around.”

Last weekend, a number of offensive linemen visited IU, including Wes Rogers, who already committed to IU, and Jake Meador, a former Ole Miss commit who has since started looking at other options.

“He’s kind of in the same boat I’m in where it’s coming down to what you can do there personally and the goals you can set for yourself,” Camiel said of Meador.