There are a number of things that make Ray Drew stand out from the rest of the crop of junior high school football recruits.

His 6-foot-6, 240-pound frame is one of them.

Additionally, the combination of power and speed that the Thomas County Central High School defensive end wields has caught the eye of just about every major BCS program in the country.

However, if you ask his head coach, Bill Shaver, there is something else that separates Drew from the rest of the pack.

“First of all, he’s a better young man than he is a player,” Shaver said. “He’s already an ordained minister. He’s the nicest young man that you’re ever going to meet. He’s very personable and wants to go into Communications and TV production and all that kind of stuff. He’s just a very outgoing young man with a character just above reproach.”

Although the Thomasville, Ga. native’s character will certainly be appealing to potential programs looking to secure his signature within the next year, Drew’s exceptional athletic ability is the main reason behind the attention the junior has received as of late.

“You’re talking about a kid who is 6-foot-6, 240, but he looks skinny,” Shaver said. “As Coach [Nick] Saban said, he’s envisioning 45 more pounds on him, and you wouldn’t be able to recognize 45 pounds being on him. He went down to Friday Night Lights at Florida and ran a 4.6. You’re talking about speed with that size.

“He’s the starting center on the basketball team, was third in the state last year in track in shot-put and the discus, so he’s a well-rounded young man with a lot of potential on how big he can be and how good a player he can be.”

Holding 18 offers from the likes of Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Tennessee and other schools in the southeast, another program put its name is the mix last week with an offer.

Now Drew is looking into Notre Dame.

“Mike Elston called me on the phone yesterday and asked about Ray,” Shaver said. “I guess they had seen some of his game footage. Of course Ray already has like about 20 offers from everybody down here. Every big school in southeast Georgia had already offered him. He called yesterday — and of course they can’t call them because they’re juniors — so he asked if I could get him on the phone and I got Ray on the phone with him at 12:30 and he told Ray that Notre Dame was going to extend him a scholarship offer.”

Drew, who admittedly doesn’t know much about the Irish program, did have some cultural reference points with regards to Notre Dame.

“I can’t say that I’m very familiar with it — I watched the movie Rudy,” Drew said with a laugh. “I know that it used to be an all-boys school. I know it’s a Catholic school. And I know that Brian Kelly was at Cincinnati and just left, so now he’s with them.”

However, despite any lack of familiarity the defensive end may have with Notre Dame, the Irish coaching staff took a big first stride towards making an impression on Drew.

“Well the first impression of Coach Elston as a person was his character,” Drew said. “One thing he made known was that he would never speak bad about another program that was trying to recruit me. That spoke a lot about his character and the type of person that he is. He was a good person to talk to for the first time. You know that they say first impressions are the best, so he made a good first impression.”

Now that the Irish have offered and have Drew’s attention, Notre Dame will have to continue to aggressively pursue the junior. Drew’s hometown of Thomasville has long been known for producing top football talents. However, due to the town’s proximity to Florida State and Georgia, most of the region’s recruits end up enrolling at one of the closer programs.

“We had a three-day stretch last week where Paul Johnson from Georgia Tech was here, Mark Richt from Georgia was here, Dabo Swinney from Clemson was here and Nick Saban from Alabama all came through the school to just come by and check in,” Shaver said. “He’s a pretty hot item as far as being a junior recruit.”

Although the recent trend is for the area’s prospects to stay close to home, Drew said that distance would not be a factor when deciding his college choice.

“No, sir. I don’t mind traveling,” he said. “I like traveling. I like it. The only thing as far as distance is consideration for my parents.”

Another intriguing factor of Drew’s recruitment is his position as an ordained minister. With Notre Dame’s affiliation to the Catholic Church, there are some discrepancies between Drew’s faith and the program’s religious foundation.

Despite any difference, however, Drew is more open to Notre Dame because of its forthright relationship with spirituality.

“I like the fact that it is based on Christian beliefs, because at some places, you can’t even tell,” Drew said. “Some coaches express their Christianity very openly. Some others, you can’t tell one way or the other. I do like that they are of Christian beliefs.”

The region’s Defensive Player of the Year is still sorting through the number of scholarship offers and does not list any favorites at this time in his recruitment. Since he is not familiar with the Irish program, Drew did say that if finances allow, he would like to take a visit to see what Notre Dame has to offer in person.

As 2011 recruiting starts to intensify, more and more schools will make their cases to Drew. At first glance, when asked what he looks for in potential programs, Notre Dame seems to satisfy a number of the criteria.

“Well one of the biggest things is the relationships with the coaches,” he said. “I have to know who I’m going to play for. Tradition, fan support, is the school known for its academics? Because I look at it in this way: if I were to sign with someone and I go, and in the first week I’m there, I end up breaking a bone or something like that I have got to be happy with where I’m going to school at — I’m not just going to play football. I have to look at it as a school as a whole, not just the athletics part of it.”