One way or the other, Saturday is likely to be a day that Alex Anzalone remembers forever and Devin Butler wants to be there to support him.
Anzalone and his Wyomissing Area High School squad will do battle with Aliquippa High School for the Pennsylvania AA State Championship at noon on Saturday in Hershey, Pa.
“I’m going up there on Saturday,” said Butler, who lives in Washington, D.C.
It’s important for Butler to support one of his future Notre Dame teammates, who has become a close friend.
“He’s really one of my good friends and I like good football games, Pennsylvania state championship with somebody I know playing,” said Butler. “I know it would mean a lot to him and I owe his parents a visit too, just to drive up there and say hello.”
Butler hitched a ride home with Anzalone and his family back from South Bend after Notre Dame’s final home game of the season last month. The bond Butler, Anzalone and the rest of the 2013 Irish commits have formed should pay dividends down the road.
“It’s super important,” said Butler. “I already trust him. Building trust on the football field is something completely different from building trust in a regular friendship. I feel like we already have trust as friends, so it’ll be easy to trust him on the field and know that he’ll have my back on the field no matter what.”
Butler was one of 12 current members of Notre Dame’s 2013 recruiting class to return to South Bend last weekend, although Anzalone wasn’t one of them as he was busy winning a state semifinal.
“Last weekend was great,” Butler said. “It was so much fun just being up there with everybody and just seeing everybody again. It was a great feeling.”
Butler was happy to see the Irish gain the commitment of Florida running back Greg Bryant during the weekend.
“Greg is a cool dude,” he said. “He just fit right in. At one point, I forgot he wasn’t committed. I felt like he was already part of the family and sure enough, he went and joined the family.
“We made sure Greg was taken care of. He was with me, Rashad Kinlaw and Will Fuller most of the time. We all hit it off. We were running around, joking. It was a good time.”
Kinlaw and Fuller are two of the more quiet commits when it comes to the media, but Butler says they’re two of the funniest pledges in the class.
“Those are some funny dudes,” he laughed. “They’re not really outspoken, but when you get those guys around each other and get them out of their shell, you’re in for some laughs, that’s for sure.”
Butler is ready to help Notre Dame finish off its 2013 recruiting haul strong and plans on trying to contact California safety Max Redfield and others.
“I’m going to reach out to Max and whoever the coaches want us to reach out to.”
