When Terry Googer last visited South Bend, the 2014 Atlanta athlete left with an offer from Notre Dame and the Irish atop his early leaderboard.
Googer doesn’t have a firm list of favorites at this point, but the 6-foot-3, 208-pounder from Woodard Academy will be back in South Bend this weekend for the Irish’s game against Stanford.
Googer's previous trip to Notre Dame was for camp this summer. He'll be flying in Saturday morning and hopes to get to campus in time for the Irish’s pregame walk.
“I’m excited,” said Googer. “I want to see the atmosphere of a game. When I came up there, there was no game, so I want to see how the fans are in the stadium and everything.”
Former Woodard Academy standout and Notre Dame recruit Jordan Watkins plays for Stanford, but the defensive lineman is redshirting this season and is unlikely to make the trip, but another Woodard alum, junior defensive lineman Henry Anderson, will be on the field Saturday.
Googer plays quarterback for his high school team, but the Irish like him at receiver. He also has offers from South Carolina, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Mississippi State, Cincinnati, Syracuse and Wake Forest among others. He’s receiving serious interest from Georgia, Vanderbilt and USC as well.
Googer was at Georgia for the Bulldogs’ game against Tennessee earlier this season and has also made stops at Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt and South Carolina since his last trip to South Bend. He doesn’t have any other trips planned for the rest of the fall, but says he’ll probably set up more soon.
At this point, the Irish should still be considered among the lead pack along with Georgia, Georgia Tech and South Carolina.
“I really like the coaching staff, Coach (Scott) Booker and everybody,” said Googer. “I met a couple of the players and they seem like they’re pretty cool.”
Booker stopped by Woodard Academy during the Irish’s bye week and stayed for Googer’s game that night.
“He’s ready to see me up there and he liked the way I played that game,” Googer said of Booker.
Woodard Academy is 4-2 so far this season. Googer, who had four touchdowns last week, has played strictly quarterback to this point, but could get some time at receiver this week.
He hasn’t been able to watch many games, but he’s kept an eye on the Irish and is impressed with their fast start to the season.
“It’s great,” he said. “They’re throwing the ball around, so I like it.”’
Googer is in no rush to make a decision.
“I’m going to start narrowing things down after our football season.”
