Irish add second QB
The recruiting process started slowly for quarterback Tommy Rees.
First a handful of Mid-American Conference schools offered. Then the 6-foot-3, 192-pound athlete from Lake Forest, Ill., picked up offers from Stanford and Tennessee. Finally, Rees camped at Notre Dame on June 30 and received an offer from the Irish the next day.
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This morning Rees verbally committed to the Notre Dame coaching staff, closing out the program's quarterback recruiting class.
"My gut was just telling me that's where I should go," Rees said. "I'm really excited about the opportunity and the coaching staff is great. Between coach (Rob) Ianello, coach (Ron) Powlus and coach (Charlie) Weis, I really got to know them well."
Rees said the Irish offer was too good to pass up.
"The tradition there is something I feel strongly about," he said. "You can't beat Notre Dame's football tradition along with the great education."
For Rees, the coaching staff's reaction only confirmed Notre Dame as the right choice.
"They were very excited; that was great to hear," he said. "They are pumped up about me coming."
Rees becomes the second quarterback to commit to the Irish this summer. Four-star prospect Andrew Hendrix of Cincinnati, Ohio committed in June. Rees said he never considered competition at his position as a negative when making his decision.
"That helps a little bit," he said. "I'm naturally very competitive so I'm going to go in and work my ass off and take it from there. I'm looking forward to getting to know those guys."
With his decision out of the way, Rees said he'll focus on his senior season and prepare to make an official visit to Notre Dame this fall.
"Definitely (I'll make a visit), whenever I can I guess," Rees said. "I'm not sure how that will work out. Practice has started up, so I'm just going to do that and get ready for my senior season. I'm really excited for my senior year."