Will Mahone is excited to have a good time during his unofficial visit to Notre Dame for the USC game this weekend, but it will also be a business trip of sorts for the Irish running back commit as well.
“I’m just excited to talk to all of the recruits, but in particular Keith Marshall,” the 5-foot-11, 215-pounder from Austintown, Ohio (Fitch) said. “I want to see what his feelings about Notre Dame are.”
Marshall will be taking an official visit to South Bend this weekend. Mahone’s recruitment of Marshall to Notre Dame began shortly after he made his commitment to the Irish public on Sept. 30.
Even before he decided to join the Irish, Mahone watched film of Marshall. Once he committed, he took to Twitter to try to convince the five-star running back from Raleigh, N.C., to join him in the Irish backfield for the future.
“I think we’re a good compliment to each other’s games,” Mahone said. “He’s a really good running back, he’s ranked number one in the country.”
Just days after announcing his decision, Mahone tweeted at Marshall, saying “I feel it, It's a special place man, different than all the other colleges you prob been to, you'll love it.”
Mahone believes he and Marshall could form a fine tandem for the future.
“He’s a speed guy and we could be like Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray,” Mahone said. “The potential is there, we’ve just got to work hard and try to get him there and see if we can make it happen.”
Mahone will also be trying to show his high school teammate, 2013 defensive lineman Billy Price, a good time. Price has an offer from the Irish and Mahone has advised him Notre Dame will probably be different than he expects.
“That’s how my experience was,” said Mahone.
Mahone almost cancelled an unofficial visit to Notre Dame over the summer, but ended up making the trip and it changed his recruitment completely.
“I didn’t know anything about it until I went up there for the first time in the summer and they jumped in my top five,” he said. “I told (Price) to sit tight and wait for the visit and soak it all in.”
Mahone, who took his official visit to South Bend for the Michigan State game, is also excited to see his fellow commits and the players on the team again. He believes it’s important to begin forming bonds with his future teammates now. It’ll be his first time on campus as a public verbal commitment and expects to have a few more people talking to him this time.
Mahone is also excited for the game against the Trojans.
“USC just had a big win over Cal,” he said. “It should be a great game. It’s going to be exciting.”
