Homewood-Flossmoor (Ill.) senior three star ranked inside linebacker recruit Christian McKinney (6-foot-1, 220 pounds) over this past weekend decided to give Miami of Ohio his verbal commitment. McKinney checks in and breaks down his college decision in this latest recruiting update.

"I made another unofficial visit to Miami of Ohio on Friday morning with my Mom and we stayed overnight," McKinney said. "I had a great visit and overall I was able to just get a great feel for everything Miami has to offer so I committed."

McKinney discussed why he gave the Miami Redhawks his verbal commitment.

"I really did my research on all of the schools who recruited me and Miami just really is a great school, academically. They are easily the one school that wanted me the most and they always had a plan for me at Miami. The coaches at Miami are great and they have the program headed in the right direction. Miami recruited me as an inside linebacker, but they also feel I can play at any of the linebacker spots and that they will have me learn every linebacker position in the defense."

McKinney also pointed towards his weekend unofficial visit as playing a big role in his decision.

"The coaches and everyone at Miami just went the extra mile on the visit. They just made me feel like I was home and I was able to learn a lot more about the school and the football program. I was also able to sit down and talk with some of the players already at Miami, and that was big for me. The players talked about their experience at Miami and the good and the not so good. The players talked about how quiet it campus can be in the summer but how much fun it is once the fall comes. It's just a great school and program and a place where I feel wanted and welcomed."

So which other schools did McKinney consider before giving Miami of Ohio his verbal commitment?

"I looked pretty hard early on at Iowa State and Syracuse, and I had an official visit planned for Iowa State but they filled up. I also looked more into James Madison along with UConn, but in the end no one came close to what Miami has to offer on and off the field."

McKinney is also thrilled to put his recruiting process behind him.

"I'm real glad to be done with recruiting. It's a big burden off my shoulders and I don't need to keep texting and calling the different coaches all the time.. The hardest part of the process was telling the other coaches that I had to tell them no. I was able to build up some really strong relationship with some coaches and those are some hard calls to make."

Christian McKinney is verbally committed to Miami of Ohio.