On300 DB Mario Buford begins June with a few Big Ten official visits

DESOTO, Texas — On300 DB Mario Buford is filling up his schedule.

Buford, the No. 20-rated cornerback in the On300 for 2024, has locked in three official visits for June beginning with a visit back to Nebraska (June 2-4). He’ll return to Michigan State (June 9-11) a weekend later and will cap the month with a third Big Ten official visit to Penn State (June 23-25).

Buford told On3 that this summer, his focus will be “trying to narrow down” his options. First-year Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule has the Huskers in a strong position with the legacy recruit from DeSoto (Texas) High School in Dallas.

“This new staff has recruited me harder than any other school,” Buford told On3. “They have definitely shown they’re interested in me and want to coach me. This coaching staff feels like they want to make an impact. When I went to practice, I watched them practice and the way they keep the pace up, keep their confidence levels up.”

“It was never the players at Nebraska being bad,” he continued. “A few years ago, they lost all those games by a few points, and now they’re working on the little things and I think it’ll be great for me development-wise.”

Buford was in Lincoln as recently as March after also making his way to East Lansing for the first time. The No. 144 recruit in the On300 noted that Mel Tucker, Harlon Barnett and Jim Salgado are playing integral roles in his recruitment.

“The first time I was there, they showed me a whole bunch of stuff that really opened my eyes,” Buford started. “I didn’t know much about East Lansing or Michigan State or the history, but this time I want to get a chance to hang out with the players, see how they feel about the team and see how my situation is gonna be.”

“Coach Tucker, Coach Barnett, and most recently, Coach Jim, I’ve been building great relationships with those guys,” he added. “Coach Barnett had a great relationship with my brother when he was at Florida State and he recruits me the same way he recruited my brother. He definitely recruits me hard and Coach Mel — that’s a dog for sure.”

After competing in the OT7 Finals on June 16 weekend, Buford is eyeing a visit back to Happy Valley on June 23-25 for an official visit. The Nittany Lions have been coming on strong over the past year with the four-star Texas DB.

“Penn State definitely recruits me hard,” Buford said. “The first time he (Terry Smith) came down to offer me, he was down here at 6 in the morning. It was apparent he wanted to recruit me and he’s shown me that during my recruiting process.”

“I definitely need to get there before I make a decision,” he noted. “I don’t want to ex something out like Penn State. That’s one of the schools that when you hear the name, the all-white crowd going crazy, it’s intriguing.”

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