Wide receiver Diante Vines had a chance to make his first trip to Iowa for his official visit with the Hawkeyes this weekend. For the 6-foot-1, 187-pound Connecticut native, it was his first time traveling to the Midwest, which was an experience that left him pleasantly surprised.

"Honestly, it was beautiful," said Vines. "When I was first coming in, it was about like what I expected to see, which was just a lot of land and cornfields, but when we got to Iowa City it was like being back at home. There were a lot of buildings and people walking around everywhere except here everyone is nice and says hi to you. Where I’m from, you don’t get too much of that."

Making the trip with his mother and cousin, Vines spent a lot of time with Iowa wide receivers coach Kelton Copeland, who showed him around campus and introduced him to the rest of the coaching staff.

"When we first got there, we went out to eat with Coach Copeland and then it was all of the official visit stuff like hanging out with the players, getting to see the facilities, and meeting with the strength and conditioning coach, the head coach, and the offensive coordinator."

"The thing that really stood out to me was the family aspect of it all," Vines said. "Everyone that I met from the coaches to the players to the recruits, it felt like a true family."

What also struck the three-star prospect during his stay in Iowa City was how upfront and honest the Iowa coaching staff was in their conversations with him.

"Coach Copeland said that I have a chance to be a starter there, but I have to go work for it and that’s how it should be," said Vines. "Really, everyone was straight up with me like my mother and my father would be straight up with me. That’s what stood out to me because a lot of coaches might just tell you what you want to hear, but Iowa will tell you the truth."

With big play potential, Vines had 51 catches for 602 yards and 12 touchdowns at The Taft School in Watertown, CT last season. Projecting to college, the Iowa coaching staff likes his versatility to play inside or outside, but especially likes him in the slot.

"They told me they can see me in the same role as their leading receiver the last two years, Nick Easley," Vines said. "They got him the ball a lot, but said I could maybe be even more impactful because I’m more athletic and can make a few more plays. They also could see me being able to split out sometimes and go for a deep ball kind of like I do in high school right now because I can be physical and do that too."

Leaving Iowa City on Sunday, Vines said there's no pressure on him to make a quick decision, but he does hope to wrap up his recruitment sometime in the near future.

"They told me there was no rush," said Vines. "They said that I’m high on their board, so there’s no hurry, but I do want to get my decision done sometime soon, maybe in the next two weeks."

"I’m going to try to finish up all my research on the schools and see where’s the best fit."

Vines, who is currently considering Iowa, Syracuse, Boston College, and Army, has a pretty good idea of what he is looking for in his future college.

"I’ve got to have a good education because like they say NFL is not for long, so you have to have a backup plan," Vines said. "Then I want to make sure I’m playing high level football and have a chance to win a lot of games and try to get the NFL. Then just making sure I have a family environment and relationships where people are looking out for the best for me."

See highlights from Vines' season at The Taft School last year in the video below.