Notre Dame A Top School For Maryland DB Ryan Barnes
There has been plenty of buzz regarding Gaithersburg (Md.) Quince Orchard cornerback Ryan Barnes and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the past week.
There is slightly more clarity to the situation now. Some have speculated if Barnes would announce a commitment, but rather he cut his lengthy offer list in half on Tuesday morning.
The 6-2, 180-pound class of 2021 prospect announced a top schools list of Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Penn State, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Virginia Tech and West Virginia.
Barnes placing the Irish among his top schools list comes as no surprise. Since the Notre Dame coaching staff offered him in late March, he has expressed high interest in the program and has family that lives about an hour from campus in Warsaw, Ind.
“They’re a great academic school and obviously a great athletic program,” Barnes told BlueandGold.com. “Also, the networking that they have around the world. Football isn’t forever, so you’re going to need a plan after football. The network base that they have is something that my family has been paying attention to.
“It’s not a four-year deal, it’s a 40-year deal. That’s how we’ve been looking at each school, making sure that network base is there. Notre Dame definitely has one of the top ones in the country.”
Education is very important to Barnes and is the first thing he mentioned when asked about what he is looking for in a school. It is imperative that a university has one of his desired majors, which are marine biology, criminology or psychology.
“My parents always preach academics first for me and my younger brother,” he said. “Secondly, [I’m looking for] a great campus environment, somewhere I can see myself happy at if football wasn’t in the picture. Finally, a coaching staff that wants to develop me for the next level.”
Rivals ranks Barnes as the No. 21 recruit in Maryland and No. 55 cornerback in the country.
During his junior season, Barnes recorded 27 tackles (one for loss), two interceptions with both returned for touchdowns, seven passes defended and one forced fumble.
----
• Talk about it inside Rockne’s Roundtable
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel
• 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, @PatrickEngel_, @ToddBurlage and @AndrewMentock.
• Like us on Facebook.