ESPN West recruiting Blog

Posted by Greg Biggins

When a prospect makes arrangements to pay his own way for an unofficial visit immediately following his official visit, there is definitely a good chance he is genuinely interested. This is the case with defensive back Dietrich Riley (La Canada, Calif./St. Francis) following his weekend visit to Notre Dame.

Riley has already visited Tennessee, but from the sound of it, the visit to South Bend might have been his best yet.

"It was incredible," Riley said. "It was better than I expected. I loved it there. I want to go back but this time, take my mother with me. There were so many great things about it but ironically, the thing that probably stood out the most for me was the area itself.

"A lot of college coaches have been telling me negative things about it, saying Notre Dame was in the middle of nowhere but I really liked it. It's a family environment and reminds me a lot of my high school. The people there were so kind and it's just a first class place. Even the girls there all dress professionally and you don't see that at a lot of other places."

Riley said he was very impressed with the game atmosphere as well.

"It was crazy there, so much tradition," Riley said. "I was amazed that everyone seemed to know who I was. Everyone was yelling my name and after their first score, they put me in the air and did the pushups. I trailed behind the team during their pre-game walk from mass and the fans were going nuts.

"It was cool having Josh (Shaw) there because we've talked a lot about going to college together. We both loved the visit and can easily see ourselves at Notre Dame together. We all got along great with the players on the team and it was cool to see Dayne (Crist) and some other Cali players.

"Dayne was supposed to host me, but he had family in town so Robby Toma was my host. He was cool and showed me a good time. I've had two great trips and plan to take my other three but right now, Notre Dame is definitely high up on my list. I wasn't ready to come home and I'm looking forward to going back with my mom later in the year and she already told she's very interested in seeing the place for herself."

Riley has set up trips for Florida and USC and has one spot open at this time.