Derek Roback (Waverly, Ohio/Waverly) had a good idea his official visit to Notre Dame would result in a verbal commitment.
On Sunday, the 6-foot-3, 221-pound athlete made the call.
“This place is even more amazing than I thought,” Roback said in a text message on Saturday.
"I'm excited to get up here and get working. At this point right now, I think we're looking at an h-back type deal. Like (Ben) Guidugli at Cincinnati."
Roback becomes the 18th pledge in Notre Dame’s recruiting class-of-2010. He was previously verbally committed to Toledo, and also held scholarship offers from Cincinnati, Ball State, Bowling Green, Marshall, Miami (Ohio) and Ohio, where his father Mike played quarterback.
Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly offered Roback on Tuesday morning, and told him he’d be recruited as an athlete. He played quarterback for Waverly High, but also impacted the team as a receiver and in the return game.
As a senior, Roback threw for 1,300 yards and 15 touchdowns. He also rushed for four scores and had two receiving touchdowns. He missed three games at quarterback because of a hand injury, but still played receiver in those contests.
As a junior, he passed for 1,600 yards and 23 scores, while adding 500 yards rushing and six touchdowns. He’s also impacted the game as a return man for Waverly.
Roback quickly got in touch with Notre Dame verbal commits Andrew Hendrix (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller) and Tommy Rees (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest), and prior to his trip, told ISD he wanted to meet more of the players and staff before giving his verbal commitment.
