I think the problem with having in-season official visits is two-fold. First, the recruits don't get the same personal attention from coaches; the same feel for campus, facilities, and academics; nor the same interaction with students/athletes that they would during early December or January. Second, while a recruit may indeed be impressed by the game day experience at
OSU and may even come out favoring
OSU, that feeling will naturally fade over time and other schools that get visits a month, or two, or three later have a chance to make an impression. In my worthless opinion, in-season official visits should be used only if the recruit wants to decide before December/January or if the recruit has been on campus so many times that he has already had all the personal attention, interaction, and tours they need. To keep things on topic, Justin Thompson, being a JUCO that I imagine plans on enrolling early, will likely necessitate an in-season official visit so that he can make a (final) decision as early as possible.