2/8/2022 football Edit

Notre Dame LB target Preston Zinter to announce decision Friday

Four-star prospect Preston Zinter will announce his college commitment Friday. (Rivals.com)

Tyler James • InsideNDSports

Publisher

Covering Notre Dame football, recruiting and other Irish sports. Email: tjames@insidendsports.com

Preston Zinter has seen enough.

The four-star athlete from Lawrence (Mass.) Central Catholic will announce commitment decision Friday at 12 p.m. EST. He shared his plans Monday on Twitter.

Notre Dame hosted Zinter for an unofficial visit on Jan. 29 just before the current dead period started. It was his fourth campus visit to Notre Dame in the last eight months.

The Irish have been recruiting Zinter as a linebacker since current head coach Marcus Freeman extended Zinter a scholarship offer in June when Freeman was Notre Dame's defensive coordinator/linebackers coach.

Notre Dame has yet to hire a defensive coordinator or linebackers coach to replace Freeman, but Zinter spent time on his Notre Dame visit with Freeman, senior defensive analyst Nick Lezynski and new defensive analyst James Laurinaitis.

“I really enjoyed getting around all the coaching staff," Zinter told Inside ND Sports following the visit.

Zinter hasn't announced a top list of schools, but he's made multiple visits to Notre Dame, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin and Boston College since June. Zinter's older brother, Zak, plays offensive line at Michigan. Preston Zinter attended Notre Dame's victory over USC in October after previous visits in June and July.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Zinter totaled 69 tackles, nine tackles for a loss and three sacks as a junior in 2021. He also caught 39 passes for 569 yards and three touchdowns as a tight end.

Because of his position versatility, Rivals ranks Zinter as the No. 11 athlete in the 2023 class. He was slated at No. 215 overall in the last rankings update in November.

Notre Dame hopes to add Zinter to the nation's top recruiting class in 2023. All four of Notre Dame's eight verbal commitments have four-star ratings. Six of those commitments have come on defense.

Zinter would join Drayk Bowen, the No. 2 outside linebacker and No. 32 overall, at the linebacker position in Notre Dame's class.

---------------------------------------------------------------

• Talk with Notre Dame fans on The Insider Lounge.

• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Podbean or Pocket Casts.

• Follow us on Twitter: @insideNDsports, @EHansenND and @TJamesND.

• Like us on Facebook: Inside ND Sports

• Follow us on Instagram: @insideNDsports