Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Dual-Sport Athlete Chooses Irish BY JASON SAPP zona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Ne- braska, Notre Dame and Utah over the summer, but the trip to South Bend, Ind., left quite the lasting impression. P rosper (Texas) High wide receiver Torii Hunter Jr. took visits to Ari- COMMITMENT PROFILE TORII HUNTER JR. the four-star recruit following that trip and received an official visit from the Texas native for the game against Michi- gan Sept. 22. While Hunter Jr. had al- ready taken visits to Texas (unofficial) Sept. 8 and Arkansas (official) Sept. 15, and had his next one lined up for Ne- braska, he decided to put an end to his recruitment and offer his pledge to Notre Dame. "It was just the atmosphere," the 6-1, The Irish began to make a move for 172-pound player reported to 247Sports national writer Steve Wiltfong shortly after making his choice public Sept. 23. "I knew what I wanted academically, and Notre Dame had it. I just wanted to see what a game-day atmosphere was like, and that sealed the deal. "On the field, the coaches will coach you hard and make sure you're play- ing to the best of your ability. Off the field, there is a network of Notre Dame alumni that is worldwide. Just to have that connection is pretty big." Hunter Jr., whose father Torii Hunter Hunter Jr., the son of Los Angeles Angels out- fielder Torii Hunter, notched 43 receptions for 749 yards and 11 touchdowns as a junior. PHOTO COURTESY 247SPORTS the Irish over Arkansas, Alabama, Ne- braska, Texas Tech and others. In addition to bringing his talents to is an outfielder for the Los Angeles An- gels, said his decision was "100 per- cent" supported by his family. He chose South Bend for football, he'll also play for Notre Dame's baseball team. On the diamond, Hunter Jr. is an outfielder who batted .393 in 89 at-bats with six home runs, 27 RBI and 13 stolen bases as a junior. Perfect Game noted that he is a "very athletic player with big tools and raw skills" and rated him a 9.5 — which falls between the categories "po- tential very high pick and/or elite level college prospect" (10) and "potential top-10 round pick and/or highest level