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          On The Trail

          Best of the visits: Big Ten

          • Tom VanHaaren, ESPN Staff WriterFeb 1, 2015, 04:30 PM
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            • ESPN staff writer
            • Joined ESPN in 2011
            • Graduated from Central Michigan
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          The final recruiting visit weekend for the 2015 class was a last-minute effort to get prospects on board. A few Big Ten teams were hosting big visitors, so here is a look at the best of the weekend.

          The Michigan State equipment staff opened the weekend by showing the fans what the locker room setup looks like for visiting prospects. This is where the jersey and helmet pictures come from and the recruits get a look at their potential future jerseys.

          Ohio State is close to filling its 2015 class, but there are still some big targets on the board. Two of the bigger prospects happened to be on campus this weekend with defensive back Damon Arnette and linebacker Porter Gustin.

          Gustin got a chance to see the new championship trophy and hang out on campus for his final visit.

          The ESPN 300 prospect made the trip with most of his family, which gave everyone a look at what the Buckeyes have to offer.

          While he wasn’t on a visit to Ohio State, Buckeyes quarterback commit Torrance Gibson was on a visit to Miami. Gibson has seen interest from the Hurricanes, Auburn and LSU in recent weeks and has Ohio State fans nervous about what he will do on signing day.

          Penn State is also close to filling its 2015 class, especially after the commitment of defensive back John Petrishen on his visit.

          Because the 2015 class is so close to being full, the Penn State coaching staff was able to hold a junior day of sorts and host some of the top targets in the 2016 class as well. That included all of the 2016 commits with Shane Simmons, Miles Sanders and Jake Zembiec.

          Penn State added to that 2016 commit list over the weekend when Detroit defensive back Lavert Hill announced his commitment to the Nittany Lions on the visit.

          What would a visit weekend be without a few cookie cakes, right? Illinois went with a giant cookie cake that looks to resemble a football for Cameron Watkins’ visit.

          Michigan had a few big visitors on campus as well, including Washington State wide receiver commit Deontay Burnett.

          The Wolverines are looking to add a receiver to this class, which is why Ole Miss receiver commit Van Jefferson was also visiting. Jefferson grew up in Michigan while his father, Shawn, was the wide receivers coach for the Detroit Lions until 2012.

          Wisconsin hosted a somewhat new target this weekend in linebacker Jake Whalen. He has been on the Badgers’ target list for a while, but he was only recently offered a full scholarship.

          Iowa had been looking good to land Whalen, but now with the Wisconsin offer, that decision could go for the Badgers.

          Nebraska received some good news from a few of the visitors in Lincoln on Sunday. Defensive end Alex Davis tweeted he was decommitting from Georgia Southern and committing to Nebraska.