Notre Dame Official Visit Solidifies Everything For WR Jay Brunelle
Shrewsbury (Mass.) Saint John's wide receiver Jay Brunelle visited Notre Dame twice and knew he loved the University. He's been solid in his pledge to the Irish that he gave over the summer too.
But it was important for Brunelle to get back to South Bend and get a full experience of what Notre Dame had to offer. He made his third trip to ND over the weekend for his official visit.
"Everyone tells me how special this place is, and deep down I knew it, but this visit basically confirmed everything I was thinking," Brunelle said. "It was necessary for that. Overall, it was a great experience."
Brunelle had a game Friday at 4 p.m. and caught four passes for 112 yards and a score in the 14-7 victory for Saint John's. Brunelle couldn't hang around to celebrate though, as he had to catch an 8 p.m. flight to South Bend.
Brunelle, his parents and younger brother made it to South Bend late Friday night and had a full-day of activities on Saturday.
The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder met with people in the academic offices to discuss the course load at Notre Dame. From there, Brunelle had a meeting with Irish recruiting coordinator and special teams coach Brian Polian and then sat down with director of football performance Matt Balis.
In the afternoon, Brunelle got to watch Notre Dame's thrilling 21-20 victory over Virginia Tech and then hang out with some of the Notre Dame players in the evening.
Before Brunelle's official visit ended, he got to chat with Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly.
"It was great to sit down and talk to him," Brunelle said. "He really reiterated why he thinks I can really excel at Notre Dame. He said that recognized that back in February and he really meant that. I had to prove myself on the field in June, but aside from that, he thinks this was the perfect fit from the start and emphasized that."
Brunelle, the nation's No. 8 recruit in Massachusetts, met with his future wide receivers coach as well. Del Alexander's message to Brunelle was clear.
"I'm going to enroll there in two months and there's opportunity available," said Brunelle. "I'll get a pretty heavy workload along with everyone else, and I can have a really great spring experience that half of our class won't be able to have. He told me to take advantage of that and absorb all of the information. The opportunity will be there and wants me to seize it. He's excited."
Brunelle committed to Notre Dame June 26 over Michigan, UCLA, Wake Forest, and several others. He's caught 37 passes for 920 yards and eight touchdowns this fall. He will graduate from his high school in December and start classes at Notre Dame in January.
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