Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 10, 2020 35 BY MIKE SINGER Only four times has a football pros- pect made a verbal pledge to Notre Dame, decommitted to open back up his recruitment and then committed to the Irish again in the Brian Kelly era. Athens (Ga.) Academy's Deion Colzie, Rivals' No. 17 wide receiver and No. 107 overall prospect in the nation, joins defensive end Stephon Tuitt (2011), defensive end Aaron Lynch (2011) and wide receiver Braden Lenzy (2018) as Notre Dame's recommitments in the past 10 years. The 6-4, 205-pounder 's initial pledge to Notre Dame came last Oc- tober, while sitting in Kelly's office just hours before the Irish kicked off against USC. But in March, Colzie publicly decommitted, citing that he made his decision hastily. "Notre Dame was my dream school, and I feel I rushed my deci- sion," Colzie told Rivals at the time. "I just didn't think about it enough. I did not give the recruiting process enough time and that is why I am re- opening things back up now." With the University of Georgia lit- erally down the road from his high school, it seemed like a foregone con- clusion that Colzie would choose the Bulldogs. His decommitment came at a time where most prospects were choos- ing close-to-home options, and Colzie had been very open that he wanted to stay in the South. His mother, Yolanda Jackson, ails from PTSD. "I'm not going to lie, it's pretty big of a factor," Colzie told Blue & Gold Illustrated in July regarding proxim- ity to home. "I'm not saying I want to stay in state or anything like that, but I'm definitely consid- ering staying close to my mom. "Me being close to her is what I want." Even though Col- zie's mother would have supported her son no matter what school he would have selected, it was clear where she wanted him to go. Jackson is un- abashedly a big Notre Dame fan. But Jackson didn't want to push her son to Notre Dame or be all that involved in the process the second time around. The values she instilled in him as a young man helped lead him to eventually pick the school she wanted all along. "You want to be involved in that process and you should be involved, but at some point, you have to let the athlete take control," she said. "When he decommitted, that was our opportunity to let him take con- trol of the process, and it worked out for the better." Colzie announced his commitment to Notre Dame Sept. 28, but of course Jackson found out his decision a cou- ple weeks beforehand. When her son selected Notre Dame a second time, various emotions came over her. "I would say shock, disbelief; I was actually not really sure that he was serious," Jackson said. "I figured that even though he felt that he rushed his initial decision, he knew that Notre Dame was the best decision." "She's ecstatic," Colzie added. "She loves Notre Dame and grew up a Notre Dame fan. It's a dream come true for her." The Notre Dame coaching staff, led by wide receivers coach Del Alexander, deserves a ton of credit in wooing Colzie back to the fold. In July, Colzie told Rivals that Ala- bama, Florida and Tennessee were his "three lead schools." But Notre Dame never gave up on Colzie, and their efforts paid off. "He meant a lot," Colzie said of Al- exander. "Even with me decommit- ting, he stayed by my side and really stuck with me and started rebuilding the relationship. He did a really good job of that." Colzie is Notre Dame's second wide receiver commit of the 2021 class, joining Pickerington (Ohio) Central's Lorenzo Styles Jr., the coun- try's No. 6 wideout and No. 41 over- all player per Rivals. As of Sept. 28, Notre Dame had 10 commitments on offense and 18 in total. Rivals rated the class No. 11 in the country. ✦ COMMITMENT PROFILE DEION COLZIE Fighting Irish Achieve Rare Recommitment With Peach State Pass Catcher Notre Dame badly wanted Colzie — Rivals' No. 17 wide receiver and No. 107 overall prospect in America — to rejoin its class, and the staff's efforts were fruitful. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM "Even though he felt that he rushed his initial decision, he knew that Notre Dame was the best decision." YOLANDA JACKSON, COLZIE'S MOM FILM ANALYSIS "[Deion] Colzie is like a create-a-character in a video game. Everyone loves a 6-4 wide receiver on paper. He's a really smooth, sud- den receiver. He's a really natural player who I think fans should get excited about, especially when you see his offer list playing down there in Georgia. "Colzie is the type of player to win the 50/50 ball. He's a long, athletic, quick athlete. To me, the comparison is Michael Floyd. Colzie knows he's the man. It's encouraging when you see that type of body language. He's a kid who could contribute early in his college career." — Blue & Gold Illustrated football analyst Mike Goolsby