Four-star ATH Preston Zinter has high marks for recent Irish visit
LAWRENCE, Mass. — Some prospects put recruiting off to the side during their football seasons, others try to get on college campuses and see as much as possible.
Class of 2023 athlete Preston Zinter is the latter.
On Friday, he helped Lawrence (Mass.) Central Catholic to a 42-13 MIAA Div-1 quarterfinal victory over Shrewsbury (Mass.) St. John's. By Saturday afternoon, he was in State College watching Michigan take on Penn State.
That is not a unique weekend for the star junior linebacker and tight end. In October, he helped his team to a Friday night road win at Haverhill (Mass.) High, then zipped to South Bend to watch the Fighting Irish make it four wins in a row over the USC Trojans the very next day.
"It was great," said Zinter about the Notre Dame visit. "The atmosphere was awesome. I got to see the coaches; I love Coach [Marcus] Freeman. I got to see the game environment for the first time. The fans were really into it. There is a lot of history there. I just love the atmosphere."
Zinter plays both sides of the ball for Central Catholic. The Irish have him pegged for linebacker.
"I was able to talk and spend time with Coach Freeman and Coach [Nick] Levynski," Zinter continued. "We talked about how I can fit in with their guys and that I can play any of the linebackers positions. The linebackers played great and did their assignments."
Zinter made two visits to Notre Dame over the summer - one on Father's Day in June, and the other for the "Grill and Chill" barbecue in late July. He got to meet a lot of the players at the barbecue, but a visit for a game presented a different look at the program.
"It was great to get back on campus and see the excitement of a game day," added Zinter. "The excitement and energy on campus and all around the stadium was crazy high."
(Preston Zinter's highlights start at about the 10:00 mark in the video above)
Michigan will be a major factor in Zinter's recruitment. Preston's brother, Zak Zinter, is a sophomore offensive lineman for the Wolverines, and has already started 12 games in less than two full seasons.
"Zak is doing great," Zinter said. "Watching him, I see how he went through the process and how he is doing now, so i am just trying to follow in his footsteps to get where he is right now."
Whether or not those footsteps lead to Ann Arbor will be Preston's decision.
"He wants me to do my own thing and make my own decisions," Zinter said. "There is no pressure from him. I would love to play with my brother, but I don't know how much overlap there would be, but I would love to get back on the field with him."
For now, Preston intends to put more work on the recruiting trail following the season, he told BlueandGold.com following his USC visit that he hopes to visit some schools in the South during the Spring.
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