Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/377020
FOOTBALL RECRUITING Inside each of the packages are notes and stats about the tradition and suc- cess of the Notre Dame football pro- gram, facts and figures about the aca- demic opportunities offered in South Bend, names of past student-athletes and famous alumni who have gone on to successful careers after leaving Notre Dame, and much more. One player sure to receive this large collection of mail is Thousand Oaks (Calif.) Westlake five-star quarter- back Malik Henry. Ranked as the No. 4 overall player in the class of 2016, the No. 2 pro-style quarterback in the land and the No. 1 prospect in Califor- nia by 247Sports, Henry holds offers from Florida State, Ohio State, Penn State, UCLA, USC and many others. He is the top target for the Irish at the quarterback position in 2016, and he appreciates the attention that Notre Dame shows him. "I hear there is even going to be some pieces of gold on the mail and the letters that they are sending out," Henry said. "That's pretty wild. I don't typically pay too much attention to the letters the schools send me, but I open the handwritten stuff. "I heard that I would be getting this thing from Notre Dame, so I'm really excited about it and I'll open the whole thing. If they want to take that much time to send all that, it's the least I could do. Plus, it's pretty incredible to look back at something like that when I'm older." The 6-3, 180-pounder first visited South Bend for the Irish Invasion camp June 20 and was awe struck by what he saw in his 24 hours on cam- pus. "It was a great experience," Henry said. "I had a lot of fun. The campus was amazing. I really, really loved the campus." Finally getting to work with his primary recruiter Matt LaFleur, who would be his quarterbacks coach at Notre Dame if he were to end up with the Irish, was one of the many high- lights of Henry's weekend. "He definitely helped me with my footwork," Henry said. "He put us through a lot of drills that I've never done before. I'm going to take that stuff home with me and use it this coming year." As a sophomore, Henry finished the year with 2,362 passing yards, 21 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He completed 60.3 percent of his passes. Another elite prospect that will re- ceive this mass mailing is Cleveland St. Ignatius five-star offensive tackle Liam Eichenberg. The 6-6, 280-pound recruit has offers from some of the na- "I HEARD THAT I WOULD BE GETTING THIS THING FROM NOTRE DAME, SO I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT IT AND I'LL OPEN THE WHOLE THING. IF THEY WANT TO TAKE THAT MUCH TIME TO SEND ALL THAT, IT'S THE LEAST I COULD DO. PLUS, IT'S PRETTY INCREDIBLE TO LOOK BACK AT SOMETHING LIKE THAT WHEN I'M OLDER." MALIK HENRY