BREAKING | Grad Transfer Kicker Blake Grupe Commits to Notre Dame
Notre Dame has landed its second Transfer Portal commitment in the last week as Arkansas State kicker Blake Grupe has announced he’ll finish his collegiate career with the Fighting Irish.
"I entered the portal looking for a place to finish my sixth year,” Grupe told Irish Sports Daily on Wednesday. “I had a pretty good career at Arkansas State University, where I was able to grab a lot of accomplishments. I started as a walk-on and earned a scholarship.
"I was basically looking for an opportunity - for something I feel I could better myself and better prepare me for NFL. Luckily, the University of Notre Dame has been able to give me everything I was looking for and even more than I expected."
Grupe redshirted in 2017 before taking over kicking duties and had a big 2021 as he connected on 80.0 percent of his field goals in 2021, including going 6-for-9 from over 40 yards.
The Sedalia (Mo.) native connected on 64-of-86 field goals (74.4%), 162-of-169 (97%) extra points and scored 354 career points for the Red Wolves.
Notre Dame will return walk-on senior Harrison Leonard and redshirt freshman Joshua Bryan in 2022, but adding Grupe gives the Irish an experienced kicker to immediately compete. Grupe entered the Transfer Portal on January 9th and made the trip to South Bend on Wednesday.
"It was fast,” Grupe said of the process. “Going in the portal to going here was a fairly quick process and I wouldn't have it any other way because I wanted to get here as quickly as possible. Everything happens the way it's meant to be."
It didn’t take long for the 5-foot-8, 148-pounder to fall in love with Notre Dame. Grupe was not only impressed with the facilities, but he quickly saw he’d be part of something special and will start classes this week.
“It's awesome and not only the facilities and the team, but the entire school. The history and traditions I'm going to learn - I'm excited. When you have that much tradition and this many people that care about the program and school, it's really easy to work hard and play harder for them.
"The facilities are awesome. I love the old school feel while also having the new school technology and all the stuff we're blessed to have makes it better. It's the best of both worlds. I love it here."
Grupe was contacted by other programs, but the decision was pretty simple at the end of the day.
"There were some schools that attempted to contact me, but to be honest, once the University of Notre Dame offered and was in contact, it didn't matter who else was there,” explained Grupe. “As soon as I had a chance to come here, it was pretty much over with. That's why it was so quick. I jumped on it because how can you not?"
Blake Grupe Stats
2018
FG: 14/21
FG%: 66.7%
1-19: 1/1
20-29: 4/5
30-39: 7/10
40-49: 2/5
50+: 0/0
Long: 47
XP: 35/38
Points: 77
2019
FG: 19/22
FG%: 86.4%
1-19: 2/2
20-29: 5/5
30-39: 6/6
40-49: 6/8
50+: 0/1
Long: 46
XP: 53/54
Points: 110
2020
FG: 11/18
FG%: 61.1%
1-19: 0/0
20-29: 2/5
30-39: 5/6
40-49: 4/7
50+: 0/0
Long: 42
XP: 43/45
Points: 76
2021
FG: 20/25
FG%: 80.0%
1-19: 0/0
20-29: 4/4
30-39: 10/12
40-49: 5/8
50+: 1/1
Long: 50
XP: 31/32
Points: 91