Irish Get Get Fourth Verbal
Frank Vitovitch
December 14, 1999

Notre Dame, Ind - A little over a week after Notre Dame got their second and third verbals they got their fourth.  Today, Kyle Budinscak, a defensive lineman from New Jersey, committed to Notre Dame.  He visited this weekend and thought he was going to commit Sunday night, but the announcement came today. Take a look at UHND's profile of Kyle.

There has been a lot of talk on the ND boards around the net that ND is going after so-called "B list" players.  First off, that's a bit unfair to the players since most people have never seen them play.  Kyle may not be on many people's top lists, but there is one thing recruiting gurus can not measure, and that's heart. Kyle seems to love Notre Dame, and those are the players that come to Notre Dame and make an impact.  It's for that reason that I was pumped to hear Budinscak wanted to commit Sunday night already. 

Look at a guy like Rocky Boiman.  If memory serves me correct he wasn't listed near the top of recruiter's lists, but as a sophomore he came in and started.  True, he didn't have a great year, but when he was moved to the line in the latter part of the year and was sent in to rush the quarterback he came up big.

There's no reason to think Kyle can not do the same thing.   His high school said of the four players he coached that went on to the NFL, Kyle is better than them all at this point in his career.  Kyle also has a lot of room to grow.  He runs a 4.8 40 which is not bad at all for an interior lineman.

Last season, not too many people were that excited when Darrell Campbell committed to Notre Dame after decommitting from Northwestern when Gary Barnett left for Colorado, but reports out of the summer were that he was a beast. My point is you can't judge a book by it's cover, or a recruit by his ranking.

Welcome Aboard Kyle!

Recruiting Update
While some people are very negative towards the recruiting effort this year, it looks as if Notre Dame can turn out another great class.  At quarterback Jared Clark and Carlyle Holiday are both making their final visits this weekend with decisions coming shortly after.  Holiday moved his Nebraska visit up.  Could he want to beat Clark to the punch?  Maybe, but either way Notre Dame makes out because both quarterbacks are fine prospects.

I think Notre Dame will only sign one tailback this year unless they could get two top of the line backs.  At this point I think Vontez Duff is a good bet for Notre Dame.  He liked his visit a lot during the banquet weekend.   This is one prospect Notre Dame has to get.  If they end up signing Duff at tailback I think everyone will be happy and excited.

Abram Elam, an "athlete" who will most likely play in the defensive secondary, has Notre Dame listed high and I think he will end up wearing the Blue and Gold as well.  Garron Bible, a defensive back out of Texas with 4.4 speed should commit to Notre Dame very soon, maybe even this week when Notre Dame has an in home visit.

Some of the other prospects Notre Dame is doing well with are Ronnie Rodamer, Anthony Crosson, Jerome Collins, Alex Barron, and Bobby Williams to name a few.  The recruiting effort is going good so far.  It will be an exciting January with a lot of scholarships to give and a lot of prospects coming in in January.

Some players I think ND should put the full court press on and get them to come to ND are Ronnie Rodamer because of his great combo of size and speed, Jason Sapp for his speed on the defensive line, Duff at running back, and Bobby Williams on the defensive line for his speed and size.