Notre Dame Makes Top Five For Top 2020 OL Reece Atteberry

Notre Dame needed to impress 2020 Eaglecrest (Colo.) offensive lineman Reece Atteberry‍ on February 23rd. The 6-foot-5, 260-pounder made his first trip to campus for Junior Day and left impressed with just about every aspect of the visit. 

The four-star prospect released his Top 5 on Monday and the Irish made the cut along with Duke, Michigan, Nebraska and Ohio State. 

Ohio State had been the front-runner for the Colorado native as he had taken a visit there, so last month’s visit was significant for Notre Dame and offensive line coach Jeff Quinn. 

Quinn made a ton of time for Atteberry during the visit and his message was very concise. 

“He’s a really real guy and that’s the one thing you can take away from the whole University,” explained Atteberry following Junior Day. “It's up front and it’s like ‘This is what we do and how we do it. If you don’t like it, then better luck somewhere else.’

“This whole process is so long and it will save time doing it like this.” 

Atteberry was impressed with Quinn and head coach Brian Kelly, but the brotherhood of Notre Dame’s offensive line is what sold the University to him. The current members of the offensive line were able to show him Notre Dame was different than any other place and I firmly believe the Irish are in very good shape with Atteberry because of this. 

In the end, I could also see this becoming yet another battle between Notre Dame and Ohio State. Notre Dame has won its fair share of offensive line battles against the Buckeyes, including pulling Liam Eichenberg and Tommy Kraemer out of Ohio just a few years ago. 

“They are very established through tradition,” Atteberry said of both programs. “The cities are very different. The cultures are fairly the same. The coaching styles between Coach Stud and Coach Quinn similar. The demeanor of how they do things is a little different. Everyone has priorities and put a few things ahead of others.”

With Notre Dame in his Top 5, it’s safe to say the Irish will get another chance to impress one of the top offensive line prospects in the country. 

“For an official visit, Notre Dame has a very good shot at making the top five,” said Atteberry. “It’s a unique place. You could come back five times and not see everything until you’re here.”