Davonte Neal stuck to the plan.
The 5-foot-10, 175-pound playmaker said he would put recruiting to the side until he was done with his senior season of high school football and he did exactly that. His high school season is finished now and it’s time to start looking at colleges.
“We haven’t done any recruiting because he was basically focusing on his high school career with his football team,” Neal’s father Luke said.
“We’re basically starting the recruiting process now. He’ll have time to sit down and digest a lot of the information and be able to make the right decision.”
On Saturday, Neal capped his high school career with an 80-yard touchdown run, a 42-yard touchdown run and a 24-yard touchdown reception as he helped lead Chaparral High School (Scottsdale, Ariz.) to its third consecutive Division II state title.
On Sunday, Neal was hosting Notre Dame assistant coach Kerry Cooks for his very first in-home visit.
“Coach Cooks came in last night and we had a good conversation,” Luke Neal said. “Him and Davonte had a great conversation.
“(Cooks) talked to Davonte about the academics. Davonte wants to graduate and he expressed to Davonte the urgency they have for freshmen coming in academically so that they don’t have to catch up. He explained the GSR, the graduation success rate, and where Notre Dame is in comparison to the other colleges, which is obviously number one. That’s a huge thing. Upon graduating for Notre Dame with the alumni base, he’ll be able to take his degree wherever he goes and he’ll pretty much have an open-door policy.”
Notre Dame is too intriguing to ignore, according to Neal’s father.
“It’s a great school,” he said. “It has a great tradition. You have to take those two things into consideration – the school and the tradition – and then you take into consideration the alumni base. With those three, you can’t help but try to learn even more about them.”
Notre Dame is one of several schools Neal is still considering and the contact has been positive up to this point.
“We’ve been in communication with them now for the last three weeks on the phone, so it’s been a really good start,” Luke Neal said. “It definitely has picked up a lot more in the last week. It went from conversations to communicating three to four days a week. It’s picked up from our end.
“It’s a mutual interest right now. It’s a courtship so to speak. We’re both very interested. So far, in the early stages of the relationship, everything is great.”
Neal could play on either side of the ball, but the Irish like him as a receiver and kick returner. He hasn’t taken any official visits yet, but is close to setting up one to South Bend for next month’s banquet.
“Notre Dame will most likely be his first official visit,” Luke Neal said. “We’re trying to do the Dec. 9th weekend, that’s what we’re focusing on right now. If it doesn’t work out Dec. 9th, it’ll be at a later date.”
Neal has scholarship offers from virtually every big-time program in the country and isn’t ready to narrow down his lengthy list at this point. Arkansas, Florida State, LSU, Miami, North Carolina, Ohio State, Utah, USC and Washington are among the schools expected to be making stops in Arizona soon.
“It’s a variety,” Luke Neal said. “Everyone is going to stay involved as far as he’s concerned. It’s just based on what Davonte is trying to look at.”
With recruiting just beginning in earnest for Neal, there is no timetable yet for his final decision.
“Whenever that decision will be, we’re not sure, but it’ll play itself out.”
