Kyle Prater Down to 6, Notre Dame Included
Kyle Prater, one of the nation’s elite wide receiver recruits, is down to six schools and Notre Dame is one of them according to Taylor Bell of the Chicago Sun Times.
“I’m still trying to see what feels comfortable yet,” Prater told me earlier this week. “It is more difficult than I thought it would be to make my decision. I want to make sure I won’t have any regrets. I want to make some official visits so I probably will wait until after the season.”
Even though Prater’s close friend, Proviso East safety Corey Cooper, who long ago committed to Illinois, has publicly stated that he believes Prater will join him in Champaign, Prater isn’t ready to announce his choice.
He has 40 scholarship offers. He said he has narrowed his list to six–Alabama, USC, Oklahoma, Illinois, Tennessee and Notre Dame. He plans to visit Tennessee on Aug. 1 and might visit Alabama before the season begins.
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Prater was recently upgraded to a 5 star prospect by Rivals.com and is right at the top of Notre Dame’s recruiting board at receiver along with Justin McCay.
Notre Dame is in for a dog fight for Prater’s services with his finalists forming a who’s who of traditional college football powers. The key for Notre Dame will be to show more consistency and fire power on the offensive side of the ball in 2009. If Jimmy Clausen can air it out to Michael Floyd and Golden Tate like Brady Quinn used to air it out to Jeff Samardjiza, Rhema McKnight, and Maurice Stovall this season, the Irish will have a very good chance of landing Prater.
Potentially working against (or possibly for) Notre Dame in the recruitment of Prater is fellow Illinois recruit Corey Cooper – a close friend of Prater’s. Cooper is committed to Illinois at the moment, but has been open to a few schools, including Notre Dame, for the past several months. Cooper recently told the Sun Times he felt Prater would end up at Illinois when all is said and done, but has also been quoted as saying he’s still looking at a few schools himself.
The difference between a solid class and an elite class for Notre Dame this year will be whether or not Weis and staff can close on the remaining elite recruits who still have Notre Dame in their sights like Prater and Cooper. I’ve said it for the last couple months and I’ll say it again. If Notre Dame produces on the field this year, recruiting will finish strong.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
Quintin Tucker 6’2″ 235LBS may have an unofficial visit to Notre Dame this Fall. He is currently being recruited by the Michigan University, Oregon, San Diego State, Washington, Arizona, Boise State and New Mexico State. He was a former teammate of Michigan’s new Freshman Quarterback Tate Forcier. Also, plays with Brandon Clay (Oklahoma commented) who is one of the top running backs in the county. Quitnin is one of the strongest kids in the county with an impressive max bench press of over 405lbs and leg presses over 1350lbs. Had a good performance at Michigan’s Senior Elite Camp in June. Had one of the top powerball toss scores at the Nike combine (41′ espnrise.com)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWyGXjKDFwA
http://mgorecruit.blogspot.com/2009/08/quintin-tucker.html
http://www.gridironstuds.com/detail.php?ret=1&id=469
So close, but so far away ND. He just made an unofficial visit to TN. where he announced this would be his final visit this Fall. He will make two official visit’s to USC and TN. Looks like he will join Ambles, Milton and Richardson as the top receiving corp in the country. You guy’s ready ready for Urban Crier to take over?