2023 ATH Khalil Barnes Talks Notre Dame, Previews Upcoming Official
The offer Khalil Barnes landed from Notre Dame earlier this month certainly made an impact on the 2023 Georgia athlete.
“That was hype,” the 6-foot-1, 185-pounder told Irish Sports Daily.
“The history of Notre Dame. I don't feel like I see a lot of kids, in my class especially, going around posting Notre Dame offers. To be one of those few kids out of how many people in my class to have that offer, it's a confidence-booster for me, but also just shows how God works. That's crazy.”
A one-time Wake Forest commit, Barnes has seen his recruitment ramp up a notch this fall with offers from Clemson, Georgia Tech and Oklahoma in addition to the Irish.
Barnes took official visits to Purdue and Wake Forest back in June, prior to committing to the Demon Deacons, leaving him with three official visits remaining.
The Irish will get one of those.
“I locked in an official visit November 5th, when they play Clemson,” he told ISD.
Barnes is an athlete, but wide receiver seems like the most likely position to fill in South Bend.
He doesn’t know a ton about Notre Dame just yet.
“Obviously as a football program, they've been real successful over the years,” he said. “I'm from Athens so I know Georgia-Notre Dame, when it became such a big deal when they were playing each other.”
Hyped games between the Bulldogs and the Irish in 2017 and 2019 helped school scores of Georgia fans on the history of Notre Dame and helped Barnes understand “why those were big games.”
“They send people to the Draft every year, so obviously they've got a good football program,” he said of the Irish. “Academically, I didn't really know much about it. I just know whenever I'm talking to Coach (Chad) Bowden, he says it's a really prestigious school.
“Academics matter there and if I graduated with a Notre Dame degree, that would set me up really good for the real world. I could basically get any job, I'd have like an Ivy League education. I know that you've got to be smart to go there and it's a good school.”
Football won’t be the only factor in Barnes’ final decision, so he’ll be looking to see more than that during his visit to South Bend.
“I feel like any school, I can go and succeed and be able to compete and play on the football field,” he said. “But I'm not just looking at the football field part of it.
“I want to see if I like the area. I want to see what I want to study. I want to get player info, see how they feel the school part is and just continue to build a relationship with coaches, see how they are in person, just feel the vibe of Notre Dame.”
Barnes has one other official visit locked in and could be close to scheduling his final one.
“I've got Notre Dame and I've got Clemson when they play South Carolina (Nov. 26th). And I'm working on a getting one with Oklahoma right now.”
Under Armour White Fighting Irish Sideline Football All Day Raglan Pullover ($74.99 $52.49)
