Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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PREP PROFILES Notre Dame landed one of the na- tion's top players in 2013 when Fort Wayne (Ind.) Bishop Luers five-star linebacker Jaylon Smith chose the Irish. It is hoping to con- tinue that success in the class of 2016 with four-star wide re c e i v e r A u s t i n Mack. T h e 6 - 2 , 2 0 5 - p o u n d e r — who holds offers f ro m t h e I r i s h , Michigan, Michi- gan State, Ohio State and others — visited South Bend for the Notre Dame-Michigan matchup Sept. 6 and left extremely impressed. "It was nuts. Notre Dame is a fun place," Mack said. "That stadium is crazy, especially during a night game. It was so much fun up there. I loved it." Following his trip to Notre Dame, Mack was able to head to Columbus and watch Ohio State in action. Al- though it wasn't a night game, Mack liked what he saw in the Buckeyes. "There's a lot more people at Ohio State, especially for a 12 o'clock game," Mack said. "The tradition isn't as strong at Ohio State like it is at Notre Dame, but the fans are a little crazier. Both places were wild, though." In the coming weeks, Mack is plan- ning to take in a few more games. He's also hoping to get out to the West Coast to visit one of his top schools, a college he said to watch out for regarding his recruitment. "I'll be at Notre D a m e - S t a n f o r d , Penn State-Mich- i g a n , M i c h i g a n State-Ohio State, M i c h i g a n - O h i o State, and I'm hop- ing to get to Illinois- Northwestern," he said. "I'm possibly going to Stanford if we can put the funds together. "Stanford is com- ing after me hard. Educationally, that's huge for me. I've always been in the Midwest and being able to go some- where like that, somewhere warm and such a great school. It's great to have that opportunity." Notre Dame hosts Stanford Oct. 4 and that will give Mack an opportunity to see two of his top schools. Although he claims no leaders at this time, Mack expects both schools to be in the hunt throughout the duration of his recruit- ment. "Both of those schools are great," he said. "They have it all. I could see Notre Dame or Stanford landing me at some point." — Tom Loy Notre Dame Is Pursuing In-State Junior Wide Receiver AUSTIN MACK ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ Bishop Luers High School Fort Wayne, Ind. Status: Offered Class: 2016 Position: Wide Receiver Ht.: 6-2 • Wt.: 205 40-Yard Dash: 4.48 247Sports Rankings: No. 122 overall player in the nation, No. 25 wide receiver in the country and No. 2 recruit in Indiana