After a blowout victory over Washington State in San Antonio that may have helped Notre Dame's future recruiting in Texas, this weekend the Irish will welcome official visitor Marquis Flowers to South Bend to see the team take on Navy.
Flowers is an Arizona native that plays both safety and running back for his Millennium High School team. The high school senior piled up 87 tackles and three interceptions on defense in 2008 while rushing for 932 yards and eight touchdowns on offense.
"Marquis is a tremendous talent, he could play a number of different positions for Notre Dame," said Mike Frank, a Notre Dame recruiting analyst who runs the ESPN-affiliated Web site irishsportsdaily.com. "He makes a ton of plays, has a lot of offers, and seems to really like Notre Dame. I think Notre Dame likes his potential a great deal and you just don't see this caliber of athlete come along very often."
Flowers is also considering USC, Arizona, Arizona State and UCLA.
"He seems to have a strong interest in Notre Dame," Frank said. "He was scheduled to visit [for the USC game] and then rescheduled, and the fact that he's willing to reschedule and come back means he's pretty interested."
While the Irish hope to impress Flowers Saturday, they appear to have already made strides towards future recruiting in Texas following their 40-14 rout of Washington State in San Antonio last week. Several high school juniors were in attendance and looking to learn more about Notre Dame and the football program.
"I think a lot of local players enjoyed being able to check out Notre Dame," Frank said. "It's a nice way for Notre Dame to showcase their program, and tell recruits to check them out because they probably don't know much about them."
Notre Dame already heard good news last week shortly before arriving in Texas, receiving a verbal commitment from Lone Star state native Toney Hurd Jr. last Friday.
"Toney's stock just continues to rise and rise. He's a very smart kid, extremely intelligent, and I think its starting to come into play and work with his athleticism," Frank said. "He's becoming a very good corner and has had a great senior year."
Hurd chose the Irish out of more than 15 major schools that offered him a scholarship, including Texas A&M, Oregon, Florida State and Oklahoma.
The Irish also recently received good news regarding top wide receiver prospect Kyle Prater, who is currently verbally committed to USC. The number one receiver in many recruiting service rankings, Prater is returning to South Bend for an official visit to see Notre Dame take on Connecticut. The Illinois player was also on campus for the USC game on an unofficial visit.
"Kyle Prater is a big guy that makes plays," Frank said. "He uses his body well and has the potential to be a Michael Floyd down the road. He likes a lot about USC but staying close to home could interest him, and his best friend Corey Cooper is also interested in Notre Dame."
For more on Notre Dame recruiting, check out Mike Frank's irishsportsdaily.com.
E-mail Mike at mikefrank18@sbcglobal.net and tell him The Observer sent you.
