A.J. Pickens, the 5-foot-10, 175-pound three-star wide receiver from Don Antonio Lugo High School in Chino, Calif., has already taken official visits to Arizona State (Oct. 13) and Arizona (Oct. 20) and will be visiting Oregon State on Nov. 10 and Washington on Nov. 17.
Pickens has seven scholarship offers and now favors the Beavers and Sun Devils solidly over Arizona, Washington and Fresno State. "I'm still open-minded," Pickens said. "I've only taken two official visits so far. After I take all my trips I'll talk to my family and see where I feel best and what the best fit is."
He says the Sun Devils are recruiting him the hardest. "They have a great win over California now," he said. "Coach Dennis Erickson has turned them around.
"My visit to ASU was great," he said. "We have a great time, ate a lot of great food and had fun just hanging out. My host was (junior safety) Rodney Cox and he's my god brother so it was fun to hang out with him. I also really liked the game day environment. It gets pretty crazy and they get really pumped up there. They also have really good facilities.
"The Arizona trip this weekend was pretty good too," he said. "The people there are really nice and I knew a few players there already too. They are an up-and-coming team and are trying to rebuild the program. The coaches at Arizona seem more laid back, but I didn't really get a chance to spend as much time with them as I did with the Arizona State coaches."
Next up for Pickens is an official visit to Oregon State on Nov. 10. "They have great facilities and I like the coaches a lot," he said. "They said that I'd be a good fit for them and that they see me as a big playmaker for them."
Pickens has a visit scheduled to Washington in November as well, but admits that he hasn't heard much from the Huskies recently. "I've never been up there, but I heard it's a nice place," he said. "I haven't really been hearing from the coaches much. They still send mail, but I haven't talked with them recently."
His team is currently 5-3 and Pickens has over 600 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns.
He reports a 2.6 core GPA and is retaking the SAT on Nov. 3. "I don't even remember what my score was. I'm pretty close. I just need to improve my English section."