DeShone Kizer Commits to Notre Dame

It’s been a rather tumultuous off-season for Notre Dame when it comes to the quarterback position.  First Gunner Kiel transfer. Then Everett Golson was dismissed from the University for the fall semester.  Notre Dame fans finally got some good quarterback news on Tuesday when Deshone Kizer, one of the nation’s top dual threat quarterbacks, committed to Notre Dame.

The Toledo Blade reached Notre Dame’s newest quarterback about his decision to commit to Brian Kelly and Notre Dame after taking a visit to South Bend the last couple days:

“After a long process and a lot of talking, I’ve made my decision,” Kizer said Tuesday afternoon. “I’m going to Notre Dame. After going through the campus with my family, we truly fell in love with the school and everything it possesses.

“The academics, the location, and the football tradition all exceeded the criteria our family had put together since the beginning of the recruiting process.”

Deshone Kizer, a 4-star dual threat quarterback, is one of the most coveted dual threat quarterbacks in the entire country with offers from the likes of Alabama, LSU, Penn State, Michigan State, and Nebraska.

Kizer was in fact supposed to visit LSU at the end of this week.  His visit to Notre Dame, however, changed his travel plans and the Ohio native is the last member to join Notre Dame’s class of 2014 recruiting class.

Notre Dame’s newest quarterback fits the mold of the last two quarterbacks that Brian Kelly and staff have recruited – mobile quarterbacks with a history of winning.  Kizer lead his Central Catholic team to a Division II state championship last fall.  Like Everett Golson, Kizer is also an accomplished basketball player.

Just for good measure, Kizer is also a member of the Central Catholic baseball team as well.

Where Kizer differs from Golson and current freshman Malik Zaire, however, is in his size.  Kizer is notably bigger than the previous two quarterbacks that Brian Kelly recruited that remain on the Irish roster.  Kizer stands 6’5″ tall already as a 17 year about to enter his senior year of high school.  Zaire and Golson were both listed at 6’0″ coming out of high school.

Deshone Kizer Scouting Video

Given Golson’s uncertain future with Notre Dame following his dismissal for the fall semester, getting a top notch quarterback in this year’s class became critical for the Irish – especially if Zaire is forced into action this fall.  Adding a quarterback with a resume that includes offers from LSU and Alabama certainly fills that need.

For those of you into star ratings, Kizer sports a 4-star rating from Rivals, ESPN, 247 Sports, and Scout.

This was a huge commitment for Notre Dame and was the kind of good news that Notre Dame fans have been waiting for given the events that have unfolded over the last few weeks from the Golson news to the departure of Eddie Vanderdoes before he ever arrived on campus.