(UHND.com) — Notre Dame received its sixth commitment of the year on Wednesday when Rivals Top 100 linebacker Steve Paskorz gave Charlie Weis is pledge as soon as he got a Notre Dame offer. Weis, calling Paskorz’s coach on Wednesday, offered the Allison Park, PA native after Paskorz’s coach handed him the phone with the versatile athlete committing on the spot.
Paskorz, 6’2”, 220 lbs, 4.65, has played primarily offense in his high school career and has racked up over 3,400 yards over the past two seasons with 2,188 his sophomore year alone. He also crossed the goal-line 41 times.
Injuries slowed Paskorz his junior year, but he still posted impressive numbers with over 1,400 yards on the ground. He did see some time on the defensive side of the ball as well at linebacker, defensive end, and safety, but has primarily been a running back for his Hampton High School team.
Notre Dame recruited Paskorz has a linebacker because of his speed and athleticism for the position. Michigan recruited him on the offensive side of the ball and was one of the other finalists for the talented junior along with Pitt.
Not much is known about Paskorz defensive abilities due to his limited exposure on the defensive side of the ball but Notre Dame has had good success in the past with converted running backs at lineback such as Courtney Watson and Anthony Denman.
Paskorz was on attendance for the Blue-Gold game this spring and is the 4th recruit from that weekend to commit to Notre Dame along with Jimmy Clausen, Mike Ragone, and Duval Kamara.
Notre Dame now has six overall commitments with three on the defensive side of the ball — a nice change from a season ago when the Irish started strong on offense, but added most of the defensive recruits later in the recruiting season. Paskorz is the second linebacker to commit along with Aaron Nagel. The third defensive commitment, Kerry Neal, could end up at linebacker as well, but is more likely a defensive end.
The next commitment for the Irish could be on the defensive side of the ball as well with New Jersey defensive end Justin Trattou set to announce in early June with the Irish looking good.
