2018 ATH Joe Wilkins Jr. Excited For Notre Dame Official Visit

2018 North Fort Myers (Fla.) athlete Joe Wilkins Jr.‍ has wanted to get to Notre Dame for quite some time, and this weekend the three-star prospect will get to make the trip to South Bend. The 6-foot-2, 175-pounder will be joined by his mother and his aunt on the trip. 

“I am so excited,” Wilkins told Irish Sports Daily. “This is my first visit, and I am just super excited to get up there. 

“I’ve been talking to coach (Todd) Lyght. I spoke with him a few days ago, and he’s fired up to get me on campus. He said he couldn't wait to get me up there. He thinks I’m going to love it.” 

Lyght isn’t the only Notre Dame coach in contact with the Florida prospect, as head coach Brian Kelly has communicated with Wilkins recently.  

“I talked to coach Kelly maybe a week or two ago when he sent me a graphic for Friday the 13th,” said Wilkins. “He said he couldn't wait to get me up there and that Notre Dame was a special place.” 

Wilkins has held an offer from Notre Dame since the spring, but it wasn’t until recently that Notre Dame ‘officially’ offered him.  

“They offered me in the spring, but when the official offers came around, I didn’t get an official offer,” explained Wilkins. “I talked to coach Lyght, he said that he loved my game and that he wanted to offer me, but the defensive coordinator hadn’t seen enough film. 

“Once my senior film came out, I was doing pretty good on defense, and coach Lyght called me. He said the defensive coordinator, recruiting coordinator and he liked me, so I had an offer.” 

The North Fort Myers standout holds over 20 offers, and that could be growing once the college football season ends. Several programs have been keeping tabs on Wilkins, but Notre Dame and NC State are the two schools standing out at this point in his recruitment. 

“Unfortunately, I haven’t gotten any new offers recently, but I know the coaches are busy with their teams,” stated Wilkins. “Notre Dame, South Florida, Kentucky, NC State are the schools coming after me the hardest. UCF and Michigan State are coming after me to try to get me on an official visit. 

“Notre Dame and NC State will get official visits. I think I am going to go to Kentucky too, but I’m not 100 percent sure. I want to go to a good medical school, so that determines where I go. I am hopefully going to pick up some more offers after the season, and I’ll see if I can add in a few visits at that point.”  

NC State has made multiple efforts to show Wilkins how much they want him in Raleigh. The relationship Wilkins has with the NC State staff is something that will be tough to beat, but Notre Dame will have more than a fair shot to make a significant impression this weekend.

“Notre Dame is a really good academic school, so that’s what puts them a little bit over NC State,” Wilkins said. “My relationship with coach (Aaron) Henry is a little bit better than it is with coach Lyght or any other coaches from Notre Dame. Coach Henry is constantly on me every day. Coach Lyght, I talked to him about once a week. He tells me he doesn’t want to bother me, so I respect it.”

As for his visit this weekend, Wilkins is looking to experience everything Notre Dame has to offer from the academic side to the game day atmosphere. 

“I want to take it all in,” stated Wilkins. “I’m really looking forward to that game experience. I want to see how it feels in the stands and the atmosphere. I want to talk to all the coaches, and I’m really looking forward to talking to the academic advisors. 

“I know the degree from Notre Dame is top notch, but I want to know what the medical program is like there. If they tell me something good about the medical program and the game experience is amazing, then that will be that.” 

Regarding shutting down his recruitment, Wilkins doesn’t expect to leave South Bend committed, but he isn’t ruling it out either. 

“It’s a possibility, but most likely I will try to take my visits,” said Wilkins. “The medical aspect is really big for me. If they tell me something really good about the medical side of things – knowing the degree, you can get from Notre Dame, and they are the No. 5 school in the county – anything can happen.”