Manatee’s Tarique Milton places Iowa State in top five after official visit

Tarique Milton doesn’t know Quenton Bundrage, per se, but he’s definitely familiar with the former Manatee star. Bundrage is one of the best wide receivers to come out of Manatee County in recent years and he wound up at Iowa State before briefly spending time on the Houston Texans’ practice squad this summer.

Even though Milton has never met Bundrage, the success Bundrage had with the Cyclones was enough to make Milton consider trying to follow in his footsteps. When ISU offered Milton a scholarship during the summer the program immediately intrigued him.

“The fact that I know that Quenton Bundrage went there, it gave me the thought to consider about going there,” Milton said.

Iowa State was intriguing enough for Milton to take an unofficial visit to the school during the summer and then make it the location for the first official visit of his senior year. Milton traveled to Ames, Iowa, on Friday to spend the weekend with the Cyclones and watch ISU beat San Jose State, 44-10, on Saturday at Jack Trice Stadium.

The fans in Iowa, he said, caught his eye. He went through the tailgates, watched Iowa State’s spirit walk and saw how passionate the fan base was despite a lack of success recently.

“It’s really just the fans that give off the good vibe,” Milton said.

The vibe matches what he saw when he first began talking with Cyclones head coach Matt Campbell and wide receivers coach Bryan Gasser, who also coordinates special teams. Milton, who leads the county with 345 receiving yards and also contributes as a return specialist, has had a good feeling about ISU from the start.

“I just liked the vibe that they gave off,” Milton said. “They made me feel comfortable, so I knew if I was to make my decision I’d feel comfortable with it.”

Milton doesn’t plan to take another visit until after the Hurricanes’ season is over, although Central Florida is close enough to add Orlando as a destination for an unofficial visit. He’s down to a shortlist of Iowa State, UCF, Michigan State, Louisville and South Florida, which he unofficially visited earlier this month, and wants to visit all before he makes his final decision.

Milton has 18 offers from Division I programs, the most in the area.

Once the season is over, though, Milton hopes a decision can come together quickly. The 5-foot-11, 165-pound receiver doesn’t want to take the recruiting process up until signing day and hopes to verbally commit somewhere by mid-December.

News and nuggets:

• After visiting Central Florida last weekend, Taylor Upshaw picked up his second scholarship offer when the Knights extended an offer to the Braden River end Wednesday. The junior didn’t take a visit this weekend, but is heading to Athens, Ga., on Saturday to see No. 25 Georgia host No. 11 Tennessee.
• Lakewood Ranch defensive backs Chris Hadley and Blauvelt Georges took their first unofficial visits of their senior years to Stetson on Saturday. The Hatters offered both earlier this month.
• Southeast defensive end Darrien Grant, a South Florida verbal commit, took another visit to Tampa this weekend to watch the Bulls lose to No. 13 Florida State, 55-35. The senior also visited USF for its home game against Northern Illinois earlier this month.

This story was originally published September 26, 2016 at 9:15 PM with the headline "Manatee’s Tarique Milton places Iowa State in top five after official visit."