Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 6, 2017 51 PREP PROFILES It wasn't a long visit to South Bend for Hunter Spears, but it was a good one. Spears, a four-star 2019 defensive end from Sachse (Texas) High, was on hand for Notre Dame's dominant 49-14 win over USC Oct. 21, and was impressed with what he saw before heading back to Texas the next day. "I loved it," Spears said. "It was definitely a quick visit, but I got to see a lot of things and got to talk to a lot of people. Overall, the atmosphere and the environment felt like a great place to be." Some of the people Spears got to talk to included head coach Brian Kelly and defensive line coach Mike Elston, both of whom he met with one on one. Spears said it was easy to tell what kind of person and coach Elston is. "He's a great dude and definitely a family type of guy," Spears said. "He definitely cares about you as more than just a football player, and that would definitely be important for me if I were to go there." Kelly, Spears said, laid out a clear vi- sion of his plans for the program and explained what being a member of the Fighting Irish fully entails. "We talked about just what it meant to be a part of Notre Dame, what they're trying to build and how they're trying to build it," Spears said. "It's more than being a good football player — it's about being a good foot- ball player and being an all-around good man." Those things appealed to Spears, and so did his experience in Notre Dame Stadium. "The atmosphere was electric," he said. "I feel like the players fed off of it the whole game." Spears, who is listed as the nation's No. 17 weakside defensive end and No. 241 overall player by Rivals, told Blue & Gold Illustrated that he's already working on a second visit to Notre Dame for this summer. Before the visit, Spears noted that Notre Dame was one of the schools he had the best relationships with early in his recruitment. Coming out of the trip, Spears didn't name the Irish his leader, but they're getting close. "It definitely puts them close to the top," Spears said. "I'm excited to see where things go from here. Who knows what could happen?" — David McKinney Notre Dame hosted an impressive crop of talent over the weekend of the USC game Oct. 21, including Ri- vals250 2019 safety Marvin Grant. Grant, a Detroit Martin Luther King product, said the visit went very well. "Overall, it was great," he said. "There's a lot of tradition there, a great football team and a great atmo- sphere." Grant said the history surrounding the Notre Dame program was what caught his eye the most during the trip. "What stuck out the most was the tradition," he noted. "That was a big part of the visit." Another important aspect of the visit was meeting and talking with defensive backs coach Todd Lyght. The Detroit native has already been pegged as a Michigan lean, but said Lyght told him there are things Notre Dame can do for him that no other school can. "He was just telling me that Notre Dame is a great school, and they'd love to have me there and would love to have me as part of their family," Grant said. "He knows that Michi- gan has a pipeline with my school, but he said there's something differ- ent about Notre Dame that no other school has." Coming into the visit, Grant admit- ted he didn't know if he agreed with that sentiment, but coming out of the trip, he just might. "It was different than what I ex- pected," Grant said. "I thought it was just a quiet Catholic school, but when I was coming closer to my trip, they were saying it was really hyped up there and it's a different atmosphere. "When I went up there, it was just a great atmosphere, like something I've never seen before." Grant — Rivals' No. 5 player in Michigan, and No. 5 safety and No. 116 overall prospect nationally — al- ready holds offers from Michigan, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota and Iowa, among others. He doesn't have any favorites yet, but the Irish cer- tainly put themselves in contention this weekend. "They stand pretty high on my list of schools," Grant said. "I really don't know where I want to go yet, and I've still got time to think about it. But it's pretty high on my list." — David McKinney Irish Are 'Close To The Top' For 2019 Defensive End Notre Dame Visit Impresses 2019 Four-Star Safety HUNTER SPEARS ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ Sachse H.S. Sachse, Texas Class: 2019 Status: Offered Position: Defensive End Ht.: 6-5 • Wt.: 260 Rivals Rankings: No. 31 prospect in Texas, and No.17 weakside de- fensive end and No. 241 overall player in the nation MARVIN GRANT ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ Martin Luther King H.S. Detroit Class: 2019 Status: Offered Position: Safety Ht.: 6-2 • Wt.: 190 Rivals Rankings: No. 5 recruit in Michigan, and No. 5 safety and No. 116 over- all player in the country "Overall, the atmosphere and the environment felt like a great place to be." SPEARS ON HIS VISIT TO NOTRE DAME "It was different than what I expected. I thought it was just a quiet Catholic school, but when I was coming closer to my trip, they were saying it was really hyped up there and it's a different atmosphere. When I went up there, it was just a great atmosphere, like something I've never seen before." GRANT ON NOTRE DAME