Traveling the country to look at colleges is nothing new for Cody Zeller. He’s been across the country in college gyms and practice facilities throughout the years.

The difference this time is that when Zeller makes these trips, it’s for him.

Zeller, a 6-foot-9 junior forward from Washington, Ind., had seen various college basketball hotbeds following the recruitment of his two McDonald’s All-American brothers: Luke, the oldest, went to Notre Dame and now plays professionally in Japan (where he's now blogging) and Tyler is a sophomore at North Carolina.

Cody, the youngest, visited Michigan this weekend during the Penn State game for an unofficial visit with his parents, Steve and Lorri.

“It went well,” said Zeller, a four-star Rivals.com prospect who is ranked as No. 35 in his class. “I got to go to one of their practices and then tailgate and go to the game. It was a good weekend.”

Zeller said he doesn’t have a scholarship offer from Michigan yet, but he is “definitely interested” in the Wolverines. He said Indiana, Purdue, Butler, Iowa, Ohio State and Florida have offered scholarships. Michigan, North Carolina, Wake Forest, UCLA and Stanford have expressed interest, with some schools telling him if he commits, there will be a scholarship available.

His recruitment, though, doesn’t figure to end soon. He doesn’t plan on committing until his senior year, in part, because he has vast experience in the world of college basketball recruiting already.

“There’s a lot of things that go into that decision,” Zeller said. “You have to live with it for four years. It’s a big decision and you can’t make it overnight, so I’ll definitely wait until my senior year, take a few official visits, go through the process.”

He has a good sounding board for that. Zeller said he talks often with Luke through Skype - at least when his mom steps away from the computer for a few minutes. And he shoots recruiting questions and basketball questions to Tyler.

“It’s amazing what technology can do for ya,” Zeller said. “But I get to talk to (Luke) most nights, if not every other night.”

The favorite part of Zeller’s trip was a five-to-10 minute conversation with Michigan coach John Beilein, who Zeller said he hasn’t met before. His impression - that Beilein is a “good guy, great coach.”

And Zeller said his relationship with players and coaches will be a major factor in his recruitment.

“The players and coaches are the biggest thing because they are the guys I’m going to be around,” Zeller said. “Also, the facilities and the education and the weight room and all that stuff.

“So there are a lot of things that go into it, but the players and coaches are the biggest thing.”

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.