Burns has three Pac-12 finalists

Temecula (Calif.) Linfield Christian School athlete Lorenzo Burns took an unofficial visit to Colorado back in August. Upon returning to Boulder on his official visit this weekend, the highly regarded athlete was surprised with the progress that had been made on the Buffaloes' facilities.

“Now that you can see the finished product, the facilities at Colorado are top notch,” Burns said. “Their locker room is a nice set up. Also, the fact they have a whole medical facility inside their football facility, that's top notch.

“If someone got hurt, they can get an MRI or CAT scan done right there in the same building. I think everyone in the Pac-12 is trying to build up to a set-up like that. It was a really nice facility that I saw and the scenery out there in Boulder is something else.”

Sophomore-to-be Nick Fisher served as Burns' player host while he was in Boulder. The Buffaloes are simply recruiting him as an athlete, while his other two finalists project him as a defensive back. Burns has also taken an official visit to Arizona and he plans to check out Cal before reaching a decision.

“I haven't been up to Cal yet but I know their academics are great. Once you get a degree from there, you are pretty much set for life,” Burns said. “As far as the football goes, they are coming off a good season and they've had a lot of good players come out of there.

“As far as Arizona goes, I like the way they work. I like how their coaching staff is one unit. They are all tight. You can talk to each coach and they'll tell you the same thing about each other coach on the staff. Also, the players at Arizona really treat each other like a family.”

Boston College, Nebraska, Oregon State, Utah, Washington, Washington State and Wisconsin are some of the other programs that offered Burns earlier in the process.

“I told all these schools that I had to look and see who was with me from the beginning to the end,” he said. “The relationships I made with each University and coaching staff was what helped me narrow it down to Cal, Colorado and Arizona. Those are the best out of all the Universities that recruited me.

“I am supposed to be going to Cal here and that will probably be it. After the visit, I am going to make a decision. I will talk to my parents and I am trying to make a decision in the next two weeks, before signing day, to solidify a spot.”

Buffaloes safeties coach Charles Clark is expected to stop by for an in-home visit with Burns on Wednesday, then Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez and Wildcats offensive line coach Jim Michalczik are scheduled to stop by on Thursday.

Burns was named his league's Athlete of the Year and he also earned first-team all-CIF, all-league and all-area honors after breaking Linfield Christian School's all-purpose yards mark as a senior.

"My dad [DeChon Burns] is my head coach so I feel like I have been taught like no one else I go up against has been taught. So I definitely have confidence in what I am doing out there,” he previously told BuffStampede.com.