Blue and Gold Illustrated

FOOTBALL RECRUITING they are with athletics," his father said. "Aaron was the only recruit there on an official visit, so he definitely had a little bit more time to sit down with the coaching staff and to meet with people in the academic department. "Sometimes you get so rushed, but he got as much time as he needed to get a grasp of what it means to be a student at Notre Dame." The family took an official visit to Michigan State the weekend of Sept. 12 to see the Spartans host Oregon. Adam Hansford said the trip to the Big Ten school was similar to the Notre Dame one, but what sepa- rates the Irish from Michigan State is the off-the-field en- vironment. "Both programs are awesome. You have great coaches on both sides at both schools," he said. "Mark Dantonio and his coaching staff, they are phenom- enal. We felt the same way about Notre Dame. You can't lose either way. "The thing that probably distin- guishes Notre Dame is the high aca- demic environment. It's a different ped- igree when it comes to the academic side of it, and I think Aaron was pretty impressed with what they have to offer beyond football. They're global." Adam Hansford might have a point about the competitive athletic and aca- demic combination at Notre Dame, but just because his son left campus high on the Irish doesn't mean the family is ready to wrap up the recruiting process. He explained that the plan is to visit a few more schools in the coming months before making any type of decision. "He's looking forward to the next few weeks," Adam Hansford said. "We're going to head out to Oregon [Sept. 26], which is another great school. Then we're going to head to UCLA and then the last visit will be to Florida after the season." While the family doesn't have any immediate plans to get back to Notre Dame for a visit, they're expected to continue to talk with assistant coach Scott Booker. They'll also keep in touch with Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith, who went out of his way to meet and talk with the official visitor. " J a y l o n a n d Aaron had a chance to spend some time together," Adam Hansford said. "Aaron is very im- pressed with Jaylon's career at Notre Dame and style of play. He likes the fact that Jaylon can cover as well as a defensive back. He said Jaylon's a very cool guy." The 6-2, 210-pound Hanford ran a 4.47-second 40-yard dash at The Open- ing in July and has been selected to play in the Under Armour All-American Game, which will be played in St. Pe- tersburg, Fla., in early January. "Aaron wants to be part of a program that's pursuing national champion- ships, pursuing BCS bowl games and are in the running to be the nation's best because that's what he wants to bring to the table," his father explained. "He wants to contribute to something that's legendary, and we know that Notre Dame offers that." ✦ "I THINK WHAT DISTINGUISHES NOTRE DAME IS JUST THE GLOBAL BRAND." HANSFORD'S FATHER, ADAM, ON NOTRE DAME

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