College coaches are limited in the amount of contact they can have with prospects until Sept. 1 of their junior year of high school. But recruiting sophomore prospects is still important, so getting those recruits on campus is a way to have face-to-face interactions with them.
For its junior day recruiting event Feb. 1, Notre Dame hosted Drew Allar, a 6-5, 210-pound class of 2022 quarterback from Medina (Ohio) High.
"I really enjoyed the visit," Allar told Blue & Gold. "We got to tour the campus and football facilitie, which were all super nice."
While out recruiting in Ohio during the January contact period, Irish defensive line coach Mike Elston identified Allar and invited him to the junior day. Allar got to speak with Elston and some other Notre Dame coaches.
"I also talked to Coach Rees," Allar said. "He was super nice. We spent some time talking about Notre Dame's offense and how it compares to the offense my high school runs. I also met Coach Kramer, who went to Solon High School which is in the conference my high school plays in. It was cool to have someone from Northeastern Ohio to connect with.
"I also got to meet Drew Pyne who is an early enrollee at Notre Dame and plays quarterback. He ate lunch with me and my dad and shared a lot of his personal experiences with the recruiting process and coming early to Notre Dame."
From start to finish, Notre Dame wowed the sophomore passer.
"I was really impressed with all the facilities, especially the new indoor facility -- hands down, the nicest one I have ever seen," Allar said. "All the other facilities were also super impressive because they really showed off what Notre Dame is as a school and community."
Allar's recruiting process is starting to heat up. His first offer came Jan. 21 from Central Michigan, and Akron offered him a week later. Just last night, Pittsburgh became offer No. 3 for Allar.
The Buckeye State standout hopes that Notre Dame joins his offer sheet as well.
"Coach Rees said he would follow up with me in the spring," Allar said. "I don't know where I stand on their board but hopefully pretty high. I really liked what they had to offer from football and academics. I would love to have opportunity to be able to compete against top football programs every week."
Ohio State, Northwestern, Michigan, Kentucky, Boston College are all expressing interest in Allar as well.
"They all sent my head coach their camp dates over the summer and invited me to attend them," noted Allar.
He already has plans to get back to Notre Dame too.
"I am looking forward to coming back to Notre Dame in the spring, camp over the summer and a game next year," he said.
----
• Talk about it inside Rockne’s Roundtable
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.
• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @BGI_MikeSinger, @CoachDeDario and @AndrewMentock.
• Like us on Facebook.
