Irish Wide Receiver Target Garrett Wilson Is 'A Phenomenal Player'
Notre Dame will get its first chance to impress one of Texas’ best players in the class of 20189 this weekend when Austin Lake Travis four-star receiver Garrett Wilson visits South Bend on Saturday.
Wilson is rated by Rivals as the No. 17 receiver in the class of 2019 and the No. 88 overall player in the nation and Lake Travis head coach Hank Carter agrees that Wilson is right at home as one of the top 100 players in the class.
“He’s a phenomenal player,” Carter said of Wilson. “He plays wide receiver for us, but through our playoff run and up through the championship game he played corner. He plays both ways at the 6A Division 1 level in Texas and that’s immensely difficult.”
Wilson efforts on each side of the ball led Lake Travis to a 13-3 record in 2017 and a 2-point loss in the 6A Division State Championship game.
The four-star barely touched the sidelines during Lake Travis’ playoff run and Carter said having a player like that at your disposal makes life much easier on a head coach.
“It’s tremendous,” Carter explained. “Obviously he was our number one weapon the receiving corps last year and he became our best defensive back as well once we got to the playoffs.
When Carter saw Wilson began to play on defense at an equal level he played on offense, he knew he had something special.
“For him to play at such a high level on both sides of the ball is pretty remarkable,” Carter stated. “He’s about as talented a player as I’ve had the opportunity to coach.”
Who will get to coach Wilson at the next level remains a question, but Carter said it’s not hard to recognize what has so many college coaches vying for his signature.
“His catch radius, his body control, his change of direction and his competitive nature are all off the charts,” Carter said. “He is a uniquely gifted player and a great kid, too. He’s a lot of fun to coach.”
There are a lot of things that standout on Wilson’s film, but Carter said one trait will catch coach’s and evaluator’s eyes before anything else.
“He’s explosive and he catches the ball so easily,” Carer told Blue & Gold Illustrated. “He’s just a natural catcher of the ball and the way that he changes gears, I think his explosiveness from his legs is what’s going to jump out at people.”
Those traits obviously grabbed the attention of the Notre Dame coaching staff, and the Irish are hopeful Wilson’s visit to campus this weekend will grab his.
Should Wilson end up Irish, Carter said it would be a perfect match.
“He’s a super bright kid, comes from a great family and academics are important to him,” Carter explained. “If Notre Dame is lucky enough to get him, he’d be a great fit.”
----
• 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_CoachD,
@BGI_DMcKinney and @BGI_CoreyBodden.
• Like us on Facebook.