Kevin Stepherson Commits To Notre Dame

As a beautiful evening winded down at Notre Dame Stadium, one of the top performers at Irish Invasion ended his huge night with a big decision.

Jacksonville (Fla.) First Coast rising senior receiver Kevin Stepherson committed to Notre Dame on Friday night immediately following the on-campus recruiting event.

"I didn't know I was going to do it today," Stepherson said. "But after I finished the Invasion, I talked to my parents on the phone about it with Coach and everything just went that way."

The 6-1, 180-pound three-star also held offers from Florida, LSU, Miami, Michigan and Michigan State among others. But in the end, none of those schools could match what Notre Dame offered him.

"Just the football and the guys that's around here, you know, the education that the school can provide and the great football," Stepherson said. "I just love what the school is about. I like all the historical things about it, I love what they're all about here and how everything is set up."

The No. 62 ranked wide receiver in the country and No. 86 player in Florida said he doesn't plan to take any other visits going forward.

Stepherson is the second commitment of the day for the Irish - joining Chesterfield (Va.) Lloyd C Bird three-star athlete Jalen Elliott - and Notre Dame's eighth overall commitment in the 2016 class. He finished his junior season with 33 catches for 756 yards (22.9 yards per catch) and 11 touchdown receptions. He was named third-team All-First Coast by the Florida Times-Union following his 2014 campaign.

Stay tuned with Blue & Gold Illustrated for more on Stepherson's commitment, including Irish Invasion video highlights.

Rivals.com analyst Rob Cassidy contributed to this report.

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