Bolingbrook (Ill.) junior three star ranked safety recruit Justin Walters (6-foot-1, 170 pounds) made an unofficial visit to Notre Dame on Saturday, and Walters decided to end his recruiting process today and gave the Fighting Irish his verbal commitment.
"Everything about Notre Dame really impressed me," Walters said. "I made a visit to Notre Dame yesterday (Saturday) and I was able to learn so much more about the school, the academics along with the football program and I feel that Notre Dame just fits me so well."
Walters, who is now the eight known verbal commitment in the Fighting Irish Class of 2021 discussed what stood out to him in deciding to pledge to Notre Dame.
"The community at Notre Dame is such a tight knit family on so many levels. The alumni connections at Notre Dame is so impressive and the fan base is just crazy. I was able to get more answers on my visit on Saturday including learning more about the team and getting to talk to some of the players at Notre Dame. I was able to get more details about the overall academic and the structure of the academics program at Notre Dame. I also just really connected with everyone at Notre Dame on my visit including head coach Brian Kelly. It just felt like everything just fell into place for me yesterday. I came home and we talked everything over with my family last night but I felt like I was already to commit to Notre Dame right after we left campus."
So why give the Fighting Irish such an early verbal commitment?
"I just never saw myself as dragging out my recruiting process for too long, and I'm not really into all of the hype and everything that goes with recruiting. I truly feel that it's in my heart to commit to Notre Dame and that I found a school that is a great for for me in so many ways. Coach (Terry) Joseph at Notre Dame said they want to take two safeties in this class and that once those spots are field they are done. I just couldn't see myself passing on a chance and an opportunity at Notre Dame so I pulled the trigger."