Blake Hoffarber is close to putting an end to his recruitment. Having officially visited Notre Dame and Vanderbilt, the 6-foot-4, 195-pound shooting guard from Hopkins (MN) High School will take one final visit to Minnesota before making a decision about his future.

"Notre Dame, Vanderbilt and Minnesota are my final three schools," said Hoffarber. "I am taking an unofficial visit to Minnesota this week. I believe that the visit is going to happen on Friday, but I'm not for sure just yet. All I know is that a visit to Minnesota is going to happen before I decide.

"My official visits to Notre Dame and Vanderbilt were great," he added. "The players on each team are great and the coaching staffs are great, so this is going to be a tough decision for my family and me. I was able to play games with by the guys at Notre Dame and Vanderbilt. It was really a great experience for me, so I would say that all three teams are pretty even."

For Hoffarber, it's been an unforgettable ride. He was a virtual unknown at the beginning of the spring AAU circuit, but by the end of the summer, he was one of the most heavily recruited players in the class of 2007.

Prior to trimming his list of schools to three, Hofffarber had solid scholarship offers from Cincinnati, Louisville, Nebraska, Oregon, Rutgers, Virginia Tech, Washington State, Arkansas-Little Rock, Bucknell, Furman, Loyola-Chicago, Northern Iowa, Rice, San Francisco, Santa Clara, William & Mary, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Albany, Delaware and Montana.

As it stands right now, Hoffarber has more options to consider that he once envisioned. His dream of playing college basketball at the high-major level is about to come true.

"I just felt that it was time to trim my list of schools to three," he said. "After talking to my family, I decided to narrow the field to Notre Dame, Vanderbilt and Minnesota. Once the visit to Minnesota is over, I will sit-down with my family and figure out what we like about each college and try to put all of the pieces in place.

"We have not done that yet, but its something we will do after my last visit," he added. "I will probably make my final decision next week. I will talk with my family after I return home from my unofficial visit and talk about what to do next. But I will more than likely pick a school next week."