Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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2016 RECRUITING ISSUE how good Notre Dame's football pro- gram is. "I went out there to visit and it was pretty easy to decide that that's where I wanted to go and be coached by him. He was a huge part of it." During the process, Sanford contin- ued to emphasize Notre Dame's com- bination of academics and athletics, and told Book that he had to come experi- ence it for himself. "I remember I was in a hard spot," Book said. "I was committed and I wasn't the type of person that wanted to totally betray Washington State. I was really loyal to them. "Once I had the opportunity, I couldn't pass it up. I went on a visit and fell in love with Notre Dame right when I got there — the school and everything that happened on that first visit. I came home, took about three days and talked to my family and knew that was the right place for me." Book, who said his top strengths are keeping plays alive and accuracy, noted Notre Dame's depth and youth under center — DeShone Kizer, Malik Zaire and Brandon Wimbush will each have at least two years of eligibility remaining when the 2016 season begins — did not scare him away. "Not at all," Book said. "Wherever you go there's going to be a lot of quar- terbacks battling for a job, and that doesn't scare me. The 2017 quarterback coming in, whoever that may be, I guar- antee you he'll be good. "Notre Dame was always getting good quarterbacks. That's just part of the game. I'm not worried. I think it will be fun to play with all those guys." ✦