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Notre Dame Football Recruiting

Signing Day Capsule: WR Kevin Austin Jr.

December 20, 2017
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KEVIN AUSTIN JR. - WIDE RECEIVER 


ISD: 4-star

Composite: 4-star

Coconut Creek, FL (North Broward Prep)

6-foot-4, 190 pounds

Senior Stats: 390 rushing yards, 2 TDs; 35 receptions for 761yards, 11 receiving TDs

Recruiter: Autry Denson/Del Alexander

Recruitment Rundown: Austin continued turning heads as he went through the recruiting process and plenty of high-majors tried to get in the mix late, but he stuck with his initial top four of Notre Dame, Duke, Miami and Tennessee. Those were the schools that fit the criteria he was looking for and those were the schools that believed in him from the start and the coaches he had the best relationships with. In the end, Notre Dame was “the best of both of worlds, football and academics” that led him to committing in August. It helped that his bond with Notre Dame assistant Autry Denson was an especially strong one. They’re from the same part of Florida and even played for the same Little League coach. Austin thought about still taking official visits to other schools, but by the end of September he’d decided Notre Dame was the school he’d visit and didn’t entertain any other programs down the stretch.

North Broward Prep strength coach John Garrish: “You can’t really quantify his ability on the field, that’s challenging enough, but you can’t quantify his ability as a teammate or a leader and, in our instance, as a senior captain. You just can’t measure that…It’s not something you can measure in stars. You can’t measure a kid’s heart or his leadership capability or sportsmanship or all-around character

“There really isn’t a ceiling we see in the near future. Every day he gets better, every week he gets better. Again, that’s not a cliché. That’s what we expect because in seeing him over the course of the past three years, it’s been that trajectory.”

“When he came in, we knew he was really well-wired. He was a really good athlete, he was an explosive athlete. If we could work on his hip mobility and his flexibility in his hips, that would increase his fluidity out on the field and his ability to make moves and make those moves look easy. That’s really what he’s committed himself to and the last two years, we’ve seen the most drastic improvement. I think he’s going to continue to see improvement on that.”

ISD expert Jamie Uyeyama: Austin is the best player the Irish have signed at the position during the Brian Kelly era.

It’s ironic that he is going to be the best they have signed since Michael Floyd at the position because his game is very similar to Floyd’s. Floyd may have had a bit more top end speed, but Austin’s size and ability to make contested catches is very comparable to the former Irish star. A lot of receivers show the ability to go up and high point the football. The difference between the good and the great ones is that the great ones won’t just go over top of defenders. They will hang on to the football and display outstanding body control even if they are hit while in the air.

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