Drew Barker didn’t visit Notre Dame on Saturday with unrealistic expectations, but the 2014 Kentucky quarterback did arrive with very high ones and they were all met.
“I wasn’t expecting to get an offer,” the 6-foot-3, 211-pounder from Conner High School (Burlington, Ky.) said.
“I was just expecting to meet the coaches and see everything. It was exactly what I expected.”
Barker loved his entire visit.
“It went great,” he said. “I had an awesome time.
“They took us on a tour of the Gug, so we saw the indoor practice facility, weight room, film room, meeting room. We saw that all before the game.”
He enjoyed the tour.
“The facilities were great,” he said. “I really like the campus. The weather was great, it was pretty much like where I live. I really liked everything and the atmosphere was awesome too, the fans were really good.”
Barker already has offers from schools like South Carolina, Louisville, Cincinnati, Illinois and Purdue among others. He talked with Tony Alford prior to the game and the Irish assistant made it clear Notre Dame is interested.
“He actually said I was bigger than he expected and he said he watched my highlight film and that I looked great,” Barker said of Alford. “He said I was in the top tier of quarterbacks they’re looking at in 2014.”
Barker was honored to hear that.
“That was pretty cool,” he said. “Notre Dame has a great tradition. It’s probably the only school I’ve ever been to that you can actually feel the tradition. A lot of people say that, but you can actually feel it there. It’s definitely a blessing to be in that conversation.”
Barker will be evaluating offensive systems closely when it comes to making a decision and Notre Dame’s is one that he could see himself in.
“That’s basically the kind of offense I want to play in in college,” he said. “It definitely fits my skill set of passing and keeping the defense honest with my running ability and making them play 11-on-11 football instead of 11-on-10 and being one-dimensional.”
So, would Barker like to make a return visit to Notre Dame at some point in the future?
“Definitely.”
