Iowa Big Man Lists Four Favorites

Big men come at a premium in the class of 2005 and coaches are doing all that they can to get the power forwards and centers onto their campuses for visits. Travis Nelson, a 6-foot-9, 205-pound prospect from Linn-Mar High School in Marion, Iowa, has taken unofficial visits to a couple of Big 12 programs and he’s thinking about two more.

Nelson, a slender big man with a nice touch 12 feet away from the basket, was one of the key members on the Martin Brothers AAU program in Orlando last month. He also participated in the Nike All-American camp. Since then, his recruitment has been active and it could get even busier before the season begins.

“I have it down to four schools,” Nelson said. “I’ll still be interested if a coach from a good school calls me but for now, I’m looking at Dayton, Kansas State, Wyoming and Nebraska. They’ve all offered me a scholarship. They are all pretty even.”

Nelson has been busy visiting schools in between trips on the AAU trail. He tripped to Kansas State for an unofficial visit in May and most recently, he visited Nebraska last week unofficially.

“(At Kansas State), I met all the players and had a chance to play with them,” Nelson said. “I hung out with Cartier Martin and I really like (assistant coach) Jimmy Elgas,” Nelson said.

“(At Nebraska), it’s a good place. It has a homey environment. All of their coaches and players seemed pretty nice.”

With school beginning in two weeks, Nelson said he’d like to have a decision relatively soon so he can focus on his final year in high school.

“I’d like to know something as soon as I can. I hope to get this over with before the season. Maybe in the next four weeks or maybe even tomorrow. Right now, I’m just thinking about everything.”