The Notre Dame football team hadn’t tapped the recruiting pipeline from the WPIAL in seven years. All of a sudden, it’s overflowing.
Beaver Falls defensive end Donovan Jeter made a verbal commitment to Notre Dame Monday and added another notch in coach Brian Kelly’s WPIAL recruiting belt. Jeter is the fourth senior from the WPIAL to choose the Fighting Irish. If you think that isn’t unusual, consider that Notre Dame is now tied with Pitt for WPIAL recruits in the class of 2017, and three ahead of Penn State.
On top of that, Notre Dame also has a commitment from Pine-Richland junior standout quarterback Phil Jurkovec. Notre Dame has landed only four recruits from the WPIAL since 2006 and none since 2009.
You could consider it somewhat of a surprise for Jeter to pick Notre Dame. Jeter said Pitt and Michigan were his other top choices and that Pitt was No. 1 was on his list at one time. But, when he named his final list of colleges in July, Notre Dame wasn’t on it. Things changed in August, thanks to a trip to Kennywood and the urging of Central Catholic defensive lineman Kurt Hinish, who already had committed to Notre Dame.
Jeter and Hinish were at Kennywood as part of being selected to an MSA Sports all-star team.
“He was on my case and just kept saying, ‘Dude, come to Notre Dame,’ “ Jeter said, with a laugh. “It was like every five minutes. He would not leave me alone about it, and then I finally told him I might put them back in. Then, after I put [Notre Dame] back in, they started really coming on hard, texting me all the time and contacting me.”
Jeter started to build a strong liking toward Notre Dame. He planned to announce his college choice on Halloween, but when he visited Notre Dame for Saturday’s game against Michigan State, things changed drastically.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Jeter. “After that, I didn’t need to go anywhere else.”
As for Hinish, Jeter said, “I guess maybe I’ll have to send him a thank you card.”
Jeter plans to graduate early from Beaver Falls and enroll at Notre Dame for the spring semester.
WPIAL rulings
• The WPIAL Monday ruled David Ritchie ineligible to play basketball his senior year at Seneca Valley because the league claimed Ritchie transferred from Eden Christian partially for athletic reasons. Ritchie, a guard who averaged 21 points a game last season, had attended Eden since third grade, but lives in the Seneca Valley district. WPIAL executive director Tim O’Malley said, “Part of the reason given [by Ritchie and his family] for the transfer was related, at least in part, to basketball. The majority of our board then felt it was motivated by basketball.”
• The WPIAL ruled Jarod Verkleeren eligible to wrestle at Hempfield after transferring from Belle Vernon. Verkleeren, an Iowa State recruit, took the Belle Vernon district and wrestling coach Mike Doppelheuer to court in February in an effort to get an injunction that would allow him to wrestle in a section tournament.
Mike White: mwhite@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mwhiteburgh.
First Published: September 19, 2016, 2:51 p.m.
Updated: September 20, 2016, 3:10 a.m.
