WR Deion Colzie Goes In-Depth On Notre Dame Commitment

Deion Colzie knew going into his Notre Dame visit Oct. 12 that he'd be committing to Notre Dame.

And in all honesty, Colzie knew that the Fighting Irish would be his choice once he visited South Bend for Notre Dame's victory over Ball State last year.

But the star class of 2021 wide receiver recruit from Athens (Ga.) Academy didn't come until the final decision until about a week before his most recent Notre Dame visit, and he announced his pledge on Twitter just hours before kickoff against USC.

"Pretty much every coach on the staff texted me the week before the visit and said they're ready for me to come up and wish they could play me in the game," Colzie said. "Just the support and the love they gave me really put them at the top of the list even more. I knew I wanted to go there, so I just pulled the trigger now."

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Colzie, who ranks as the No. 95 prospect nationally and the No. 6 athlete, had a game plan of informing the coaching staff of his commitment.

"Before the visit, Coach [Del] Alexander gave me the rundown of my schedule for when I got there," Colzie explained. "I had a meeting with him first and then Coach [Brian] Kelly afterwards. After that, I had a meeting with Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick.

"Coach Alexander was telling me about their game plan. Right when we were wrapping up, I told him I came on the visit for one main reason, to tell him personally that I'm committed to the University of Notre Dame. He was stoked about it. He was jumping around."

Just a couple of minutes later, Colzie met with Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly to inform him of the good news as well.

"We talked about the program and how he'd love for me to join it," Colzie said. "That's when I told him that I was committing. He was excited. He thought I was kidding with him, but I told him it was the real deal."

It was a great weekend not only on the field for Notre Dame as they bested their rival USC 30-27, but on the recruiting front as well.

They landed Colzie, a four-star receiver, and added another class of 2021 pass catcher in Pickerington (Ohio) Central's Lorenzo Styles, who ranks as the No. 28 prospect nationally and the No. 4 receiver in the land.

At 6-foot-4, 205-pounds, Colzie is a big-bodied receiver ala current Irish wideout Chase Claypool, while Styles is a bit smaller at 6-foot-1, 170-pounds but is very dynamic with the ball in his hands.

"I think we'll be a deadly duo together," Colzie stated.

Colzie and Styles have a darn good quarterback in their class committed in La Jolla (Calif.) The Bishop's School gunslinger Tyler Buchner, the nation's No. 65 prospect and No. 5 recruit in California. Buchner, Colzie and Styles were able to meet each other in person Oct. 12 during their Notre Dame visit.

"I think he's a bad dude," Colzie said of Buchner. "He'll eventually be the No. 1 quarterback in the nation. His arm talent is just amazing, and he has the sneaky running ability that people don't know about. He's an overall great player and a good person too."

Per Rivals, Notre Dame's 2021 recruiting class is ranked No. 1 with the Irish's seven commits who are all ranked as top 200 prospects nationally. Colzie is looking to help the Notre Dame staff continue to build an elite class.

"We're after the best of course," Colzie said. "We have the No. 1 recruiting class right now, and we want to keep it that way. We just want to come together and look for the guys who will fit our program and succeed here."

Colzie plans to enroll early at Notre Dame and will be solid in his commitment moving forward.

"Schools will try to persuade me to flip, but I'm sticking to my decision," noted Colzie. "I feel like Notre Dame is the best place for me and my family 100 percent. I'm not decommitting."

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