Gully Impressed With IU Visit

With his Indiana official visit concluded, St. Louis cornerback Antonio Gully says the Hoosiers are one of two programs that have separated themselves from the rest.

Antonio Gully remains one of Indiana’s most wanted recruits in the ’06 class, and it appears the Hoosiers are one of two finalists for the St. Louis cornerback.

The 6-0, 170-pounder from Cardinal Ritter H.S. made his official visit to Bloomington over the weekend, and Gully said everything went well during the Bloomington stop.

“It went pretty good – they have a lot of nice people down there, the environment is nice, and the coaches are really nice,” said Gully, he had nine interceptions as a senior. “It’s almost like everyone is best friends down there. It was a little bit more than I expected.”

The trip has elevated Indiana into what appears to be a neck-and-neck race with Illinois for his services. Gully visited Illinois earlier in the fall, and he’s also scheduled to make an official to Wisconsin this weekend as well. While Wisconsin is still a possibility, the Badgers appear to be the odd team out at this point.

“Actually, Wisconsin is kind of on the outskirts,” said Gully. “It’s basically Illinois and Indiana.”

Cornerback is a position that IU Coach Terry Hoeppner wants to shore up with this year’s recruiting class. Indiana wasn’t very deep at the position to start the season, and then lost senior Buster Larkins to a season-ending injury early in the campaign. Larkins won’t be back in the fall, and Gully knows there would be a chance to compete to playing time quickly at IU.

“(Hoeppner) said just like any other school I’d have to go there and compete for a spot, but there’s a good chance I might be able to play because they don’t have many guys at my position,” said Gully.

Playing time is certainly a top priority for Gully, but it’s far from the only consideration.

“There are a lot of things that will go into my decision – the environment, the people, my chance of scoring a big job after graduation, my chances of playing, my chances of making it into the league after college – all those things are factors,” said Gully.