I got a chance to talk to Brother Rice quarterback Jack Lausch tonight. He just picked up his offer from Northwestern on Saturday, right after Bennett Meredith decommitted. He's going to take his official visit to NU this weekend.
It's going to come down to Northwestern or Notre Dame for Lausch -- as it has for many prospects over the years. NU has a big advantage here in that they offered him a scholarship. He'd be a PWO at ND. The wild card in his recruitment is baseball. He is being recruited as an outfielder and would be a PWO for ND baseball team, too. I asked him about the baseball opportunity at Northwestern, and I was surprised to hear that he hadn't had that conversation with NU coaches yet. That's going to be a big factor in his decision. Fitz has allowed guys to play baseball at NU in the past -- Jack Mitchell, Quentin Williams and Arby Fields spring to mind. But it was always clear that football came first. Their priority would be spring practice before baseball, for example. We'll see how that shakes out.
I talked to Lausch about the scholarship vs. PWO opportunity and it wasn't nearly as big a factor as I expected. He says that there will be "scholarship opportunities down the road in either sport" at Notre Dame. "It's something to consider but not as big a deal as if I didn't have the opportunity to earn one."
Lausch loves Fitz, though he hasn't met him in person yet. He didn't start hearing from NU until the fall. He said he was "a little surprised" to get the offer because he didn't hear from them for a while -- while Meredith was committed, of course. He had very similar things to say about both programs. The guy that recruited him at ND was Tommy Rees, who's staying in South Bend, so it didn't sound like losing Brian Kelly would be a big deal. He said he's already talked to new head coach Marcus Freeman.
I know what your question is: what do I predict? And I can't say for sure. If I were betting, I would bet on NU, just because of the scholarship and the fact that he's taking his OV a few days before signing day. He's planning to sign on Wednesday one way or the other. The things I don't know yet is the baseball issue at NU, and how much pull that Catholic school thing will have on him. The kid is a tremendous student: he has a weighted 4.7 on a 4.0 scale and said he got "a couple" Bs in his high school career. His dad went to NU law school and is an NU fan, but, as Jack said, "he's going to be a fan of whatever school I go to."
So that's the scoop. I'll post the story at some point tomorrow.
It's going to come down to Northwestern or Notre Dame for Lausch -- as it has for many prospects over the years. NU has a big advantage here in that they offered him a scholarship. He'd be a PWO at ND. The wild card in his recruitment is baseball. He is being recruited as an outfielder and would be a PWO for ND baseball team, too. I asked him about the baseball opportunity at Northwestern, and I was surprised to hear that he hadn't had that conversation with NU coaches yet. That's going to be a big factor in his decision. Fitz has allowed guys to play baseball at NU in the past -- Jack Mitchell, Quentin Williams and Arby Fields spring to mind. But it was always clear that football came first. Their priority would be spring practice before baseball, for example. We'll see how that shakes out.
I talked to Lausch about the scholarship vs. PWO opportunity and it wasn't nearly as big a factor as I expected. He says that there will be "scholarship opportunities down the road in either sport" at Notre Dame. "It's something to consider but not as big a deal as if I didn't have the opportunity to earn one."
Lausch loves Fitz, though he hasn't met him in person yet. He didn't start hearing from NU until the fall. He said he was "a little surprised" to get the offer because he didn't hear from them for a while -- while Meredith was committed, of course. He had very similar things to say about both programs. The guy that recruited him at ND was Tommy Rees, who's staying in South Bend, so it didn't sound like losing Brian Kelly would be a big deal. He said he's already talked to new head coach Marcus Freeman.
I know what your question is: what do I predict? And I can't say for sure. If I were betting, I would bet on NU, just because of the scholarship and the fact that he's taking his OV a few days before signing day. He's planning to sign on Wednesday one way or the other. The things I don't know yet is the baseball issue at NU, and how much pull that Catholic school thing will have on him. The kid is a tremendous student: he has a weighted 4.7 on a 4.0 scale and said he got "a couple" Bs in his high school career. His dad went to NU law school and is an NU fan, but, as Jack said, "he's going to be a fan of whatever school I go to."
So that's the scoop. I'll post the story at some point tomorrow.
