Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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44 NOV. 13, 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED PREP PROFILES Notre Dame hosted one of the top players in the class of 2019 for the NC State game Oct. 28 and left a big impression on him. Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) University School athlete Kenny McIntosh made his second visit to South Bend, his first for an Irish home game, and gave the trip high marks. "Everything went great," McIntosh said. "Going up there and seeing that place again was fun." A highlight of the trip for McIntosh was getting to see his older brother Deon carry the ball 11 times for 63 yards in the game. "It was my first time coming to his game and seeing him run the ball," McIntosh said. "It was great. I loved seeing him out there on the field do- ing what he was doing." Of course, that wasn't all that caught McIntosh's eye about the visit. The No. 49 overall player in the class of 2019 said seeing all the new additions to Notre Dame Stadium also stuck out to him. "They showed me some new stuff," McIntosh said. "The locker room was big, and I loved it. They have a new stadium now, and I fell in love with that." The young four-star said the over- all atmosphere in the stadium was fantastic. "The atmosphere was great, and the student section was crazy," Mc- Intosh said. "Everybody was just showing love. They care about their football team, and I really love that." McIntosh also got to sit down with running backs coach Autry Denson, who has been his main contact and recruiter at Notre Dame so far. The Florida talent said he and Den- son bonded over the fact they both come from South Florida. "It was good," McIntosh said of meeting with Denson. "We're from the same place, and he let me know what's going to go on if I come here. We are cool. We're always going to be good." Ohio State and Miami were the perceived main competitors for Mc- Intosh coming into the trip, but go- ing forward Notre Dame should be a contender. "I really don't have a list, but I'm loving what they're doing with the program," McIntosh said. "They'd definitely be up there if I had a list right now." — David McKinney Notre Dame hosted a number of talented prospects from all different classes for the USC game Oct. 21, including one of the best in 2020, Franklin (Tenn.) High offensive tackle Jake Wray. Wray got his first look at South Bend that weekend and came away impressed with what he saw. "The visit was good," he said. "I liked the atmosphere, and the cam- pus was really nice. My mom and I got there early so we could go walk around and check it out." The biggest thing Wray said he noticed during the visit was the fa- miliarity everyone at Notre Dame seemed to have with each other. "It's a very family oriented place, and everybody's really closely as- sociated," Wray said. "I thought that was really cool." Being an offensive lineman, Wray said he was sure to keep an eye on Mike McGlinchey, Quenton Nelson and company throughout the game. Like anyone else who watched the unit handle the Trojans' defensive line with ease all night, Wray was impressed. "They're a very physical offensive line," he said. "They just run up the middle. They're one of those teams that can tell you where they're going and still get yards. That running back is huge and really athletic. "They've got a lot of talented play- ers on that offensive line, and that was exciting to watch." While on campus, Wray spent time with offensive line coach Harry Hies- tand, who Wray happens to be more familiar with than he realized. Wray told Blue & Gold Illustrated that not only is Hiestand a friend of a family friend, but he also coached Wray's offensive line coach at Ten- nessee. The young standout said get- ting to meet and talk with Hiestand was an awesome experience. "I really like Coach Hiestand," Wray said. "He's very well known and is very respected. He's a really good guy, and it was really nice meeting him and talking to him." According to Wray, Hiestand told him the Irish would be on him in his recruitment from here on out. "Coach Hiestand said the next step is to keep getting to know me, and then I'll go up there in the spring," Wray said. On Oct. 31, Notre Dame pulled the trigger on an offer for the 6-5, 275-pound Wray, joining the likes of Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Oregon and Ohio State. Adding Notre Dame to that list, Wray said, was huge. "It's pretty crazy," Wray said. "It's a great offer and a very big offer. I was excited." — David McKinney Rivals No. 3 Junior Athlete Enjoys Second Notre Dame Visit Elite Sophomore Lineman Lands Irish Offer After Visit KENNY MCINTOSH ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ Fort Lauderdale, Fla. University School Status: Offered Class: 2019 Position: Running Back Ht.: 6-0 • Wt.: 198 Rivals Rankings: No. 3 ath- lete and No. 49 overall player in the nation JAKE WRAY No star rating yet Franklin, Tenn. Franklin H.S. Status: Interested Class: 2020 Position: Offensive Tackle Ht.: 6-3 • Wt.: 275 Rivals Rankings: The class of 2020 is not currently rated "They showed me some new stuff. The locker room was big, and I loved it. They have a new stadium now, and I fell in love with that." MCINTOSH ON HIS NOTRE DAME VISIT