Oh the joys of National Signing Day.
Notre Dame announced at 11:23 a.m. ET that Mishawaka (Ind.) Penn quarterback Ron Powlus III had signed with the Fighting Irish.
It’s not a surprise that Powlus’ destination is just down the road at Notre Dame and will follow his father, Ron, who played quarterback for the Irish from 1994-97, was a two-time captain and is currently the Associate Athletics Director for football.
But is a surprise considering that it came out of left field on National Signing Day.
“I will be continuing my athletic and academic career at the University of Notre Dame,” Powlus said at his signing day ceremony. “I would like to thank my Penn football family and Coach Cory [Yeoman] for pushing me to get better. I would also like to thank my family and parents for supporting me. Go Irish.”
The 6-3, 230-pounder will be a scholarship quarterback for Notre Dame. He also held offers from Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Indiana State, Kentucky and Yale.
“We have been watching Ron Powlus III for a long time, but he fell off the recruiting radar of a lot of schools when he missed junior season with an injury,” Rivals.com Midwest recruiting analyst Josh Helmholdt said. “Ron did come back as a senior. The injury seems to have made him less mobile, but he can stand in the pocket and sling it.
“He won MVP at the Rivals Camp in St. Louis as a sophomore, and the quarterback coaches there loved him because he definitely has the arm talent, and fundamentally/technically he is very clean. Bringing him in as a second quarterback in a class is a great idea, in my opinion.”
Powlus joins Tyler Bucher as quarterbacks on Notre Dame’s recruit list for the 2021 class. They will join Drew Pyne and Brendon Clark in Notre Dame’s quarterback room next season.
Notre Dame signed 25 recruits on Wednesday and are in the mix for two more running back recruits (Logan Diggs and Audric Estime) and would like to add cornerback recruit Ceyair Wright during the February signing period.
Rivals ranks Powlus as a three-star recruit.
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