In the Class of 2012 Notre Dame only recruited two players for the defensive line and linebacker combined. The number of outstanding players that they brought in at those positions in 2011 meant that those areas weren’t strong positions of need but it also means that the Irish will once again need to load up on those positions in 2013. Last week Irish Sports Daily spoke to two young men at those positions that the Notre Dame coaching staff would love to see donning Irish uniforms in 2013. What have you been missing by not being a member of Irish Sports Daily?
Alex Anzalone, LB, 6-3, 220, Wyomissing Area High School, Wyomissing, PA already holds offers from the likes of Ohio State, Alabama and Florida and last week he added another big one when Notre Dame offered. He probably had an inkling of what was coming when new Irish offensive line coach Harry Hiestand asked the talented Pennsylvanian to give him a call.
“I called him,” said Anzalone. “We talked for a little bit and he offered.”
Anzalone was thrilled by the Notre Dame scholarship offer.
“I was really happy,” he said. “A great university like that, that’s interested in me, it just feels awesome. Just the great mixture of academics, football tradition and good people and I’m sure that campus is great. All of that just got me really excited.”
Anzalone is looking for dates to visit the Notre Dame campus and Notre Dame’s two upcoming Junior Days should provide him with the perfect opportunity.
“Coach mentioned there are Junior Days on March 3rd and March 24th,” said Anzalone. “I think I’ll go down to one of those, I’m not sure yet and also spring practice.”
Anzalone has already visited a number of schools including Ohio State, Boston College and Maryland. He has plans to go to Penn State and Virginia. These visits are especially important for him because he hopes to make a decision before the beginning of his senior season.
“I think I want to commit before the season,” he said. “I’m not completely sure when it will be, but I’m pretty sure I want to do that. I just want to get around the campuses as much as I can and narrow down my choices and see what I like and don’t like, the pros and cons and narrow down my choices and go from there.”
Anzalone has already established a list of priorities of what he’s looking for in a school.
“Academics is number one,” he said. He also listed things like “a rich tradition, great atmosphere and the quality of people around the program.”
While Notre Dame is looking at Anzalone primarily as a linebacker they have also mentioned the possibility of him playing tailback. For him it validated his athleticism.
“It makes me feel pretty good about myself,” he stated. “It proves to myself that I’m athletic and can play multiple positions.”
As a junior, Anzalone ran for 917 yards on 79 carries and 13 touchdowns. He also recorded 58 solo tackles. All of this came in a junior season where his playing time was limited by a number of lopsided victories.
Eddie Vanderdoes, DL, 6-4, 285, Placer High School, Placer, CA began his trek to a Notre Dame offer a couple weeks ago with a Facebook chat with Notre Dame coach Mike Denbrock. Denbrock asked Vanderdoes to give him a call which he did.
“He said he really, really likes how I played,” explained Vanderdoes. “He said him the D-line coach and the whole defensive staff watched my film and said they loved it. He just wanted to check out my transcripts.”
Last Wednesday Vanderdoes called Denbrock again and found out that his transcripts checked out and the Irish were ready with an offer.
“That’s a really good offer to have and I could definitely see myself playing for a program like that,” he stated. “It’s Notre Dame. They have a lot of history there. They have a great coaching staff. Denbrock seems like a really, really cool guy to talk to; really honest and up front. I like the defensive scheme they run, I think I’d fit that well.”
Notre Dame is recruiting Vanderdoes to play all along the defensive front, probably depending upon how big he gets.
“They say they loved how I play,” he reiterated. “They loved my technique, my separation and power. They loved my versatility, my motor, how I’m always in the backfield. They said they loved how I beast guys too, so that’s really nice. They were blown away by how good my tape was, which was really nice to hear.”
Vanderdoes hopes to take a visit to South Bend soon but realizes that the distance may require his visit to be an official one.
“I’d definitely love to visit them,” he said. I’ve heard a lot about their campus and I’d love to get out there and meet the coaches in person, hopefully meet the players; get out there and check out the school and facilities.”
The talented California defender holds a number of offers from some very prestigious programs. Cal, Michigan, Ole Miss, Washington, Washington State and UCLA have all extended scholarship offers in addition to Notre Dame. He doesn’t profess to have any list of favorites at this point.
“I’m keeping my options open,” he stated. “There’s a lot of schools I like and honestly I really like them all now. I don’t really have a favorite or schools that are standing out a whole bunch.”
These two summaries represent just a sample of the Notre Dame football recruiting information available each week on Irish Sports Daily.
