It’s still early in the recruiting process for 2014 Indiana wide receiver Justin Brent, but as a dual-sport prospect, Brent has seen his share of colleges.
“It was amazing,” Brent said following Saturday’s visit to Notre Dame for the Irish’s Blue-Gold Game.
“It was one of the best visits I’ve ever been on basketball or football. I’m definitely glad I came and they’re glad I came.”
The 6-foot-3, 193-pounder from Indianapolis’ Speedway High School doesn’t have any offers at this early stage, but he is receiving interest from schools like Florida State, Michigan, Oregon, Arkansas, Louisville and Pittsburgh in addition to Notre Dame and others.
“It was just different,” Brent said of his trip to South Bend. “Everything was set up well, everyone was so friendly. I was signing autographs for people. That was probably one of the coolest parts.
“It was just amazing, everybody was so friendly and welcomed you. You’ve got to love that. The facilities were so nice. It’s just hard not to like it.”
The Irish plan on continuing the contact with Brent and it sounds like he’s a guy they’d consider offering down the road.
“They’re going to come down to Speedway to see me and they have me coming to an evaluation that they do, so I’m going to be going up there,” he said of a return trip for summer camp.
“They said an offer could happen.”
Notre Dame assistant Mike Elston handles in-state recruiting for the Irish.
“I talked to Elston, but I also talked to almost every other coach,” said Brent. “They all came up and greeted you. I had conversations with all of them and they’re glad I came.
“(Elston) said he’s definitely going to come down and check on me in the spring, he’s going to talk to my coach. I know I’m for sure coming back. He said I’ve got to come back. I’m excited.”
Brent enjoyed the other recruits and current players he met during the day.
“I met a lot of them,” he said. “I didn’t really talk to them that much. I talked to Gunner Kiel, he’s real cool.”
He felt like Notre Dame is a place he could fit in socially.
“I’m cool and outgoing and everybody else was too,” he said. “There were no egos, no nothing. Everybody was really friendly and cool.”
Brent didn’t have much to say about the game itself and that’s a good sign.
“I loved it,” he said. “I can’t even say anything, I’m speechless. There’s not even a word to describe it.”
He certainly picked up on the amount of time the Irish put the ball in the air.
“That’s the first thing the coaches said,” he said. “They said they like to throw it and they need wideouts. They said maybe I could be their guy.”
Brent is enjoying the early stages of the recruiting process.
“It’s getting bigger and bigger each week. It’s getting kind of ridiculous, but I can’t complain.”
