RECRUITING: Grill recaps official visit to Ames, prepares for final visit/decision

One official visit now stands between Caleb Grill and a final decision on where he will play college basketball.

The three-star former South Dakota State signee wrapped up an official visit to Ames on Tuesday. He will visit UNLV and former SDSU head coach T.J. Otzelberger this weekend before nailing down where he will play basketball at the next level.

“What stuck out to me was just that I like the coaching staff a lot. They’re all really good guys,” Grill told Cyclone Fanatic on Tuesday about the visit. “The players are all really good guys too so just the good people that would be around if I decided to go there. That’s what really stuck out to me.”

Grill, a native of Maize, Kan., was hosted on his visit by Iowa State soon-to-be sophomore guard Tyrese Haliburton. The No. 12 prospect in Kansas, who also unofficially visited Ames on April 2, said spending time with Haliburton gave him an opportunity to get a better understanding of the players’ schedules in Iowa State’s program.

“(Haliburton) wasn’t really over the top but he was giving me some good advice on why he likes Iowa State and stuff like that,” Grill said. “Other than that, he was just a good person to talk to and a good person to be with.”

The 6-foot-3, 180-pound combo guard rated as the No. 462 player in the 2019 recruiting class became one of the most hotly pursued prospects in the Midwest once he was released from his National Letter of Intent with the Jackrabbits in March. After receiving interest from a handful of schools, he narrowed his list to the Cyclones, Runnin’ Rebels and Kansas State.

He visited Manhattan last week to kick off his second round of official visits. Now, Grill is preparing for the homestretch of his second recruitment — which he perceives to be somewhat bittersweet.

“I have three really good schools (to choose from) and I really like them all. It will be hard to cut two of them out,” Grill said. “I think (comfortability) will have a big thing to do with (the decision). All three schools meet certain criteria so that’s just going to be a big factor in where I decide to go to school.”