2020 CB Donovan Clark Enjoys "Amazing" Visit To Notre Dame

Donovan Clark‍ made the trip all of the way from the Pacific Northwest to Notre Dame this week and the 2020 Washington cornerback is glad he did.

“It was amazing,” Clark told Irish Sports Daily afterward. “Everything blew my mind from the start of the spring practice to the PowerPoint. It really got my attention.

“(Notre Dame was really welcoming, amazing. I loved everything they had to say. I loved everything I got to see from the campus to academics. Obviously, academics is a big part that every athlete looks for. They really covered it all. I had no questions. They really blew my mind and left me speechless.”

Notre Dame assistant coach Brian Polian delivered the PowerPoint presentation on what it means to be excellent.

“It mainly showed their core values academically and with their football program,” the Lincoln High School standout explained. “They used data and numbers to show why Notre Dame is such a strong school and why they’ve been so successful.”

One theme Clark heard throughout the visit was how the people at Notre Dame challenge student-athletes on and off the field.

“I heard it from everywhere during the tour,” he said. “That was one major core value that I loved to hear.

“They also take care of their athletes, relationships. That was also an important one.”

Irish defensive backs coach Todd Lyght made a major impact as well.

“Coach Lyght is a really high standard guy,” said Clark. “I look up to him. He balled out in college, was successful in the NFL. He’s a guy I know kind of knows everything and a guy whose life perspective can really have an influence on my life. His words on influencing. He really taught us a lot of stuff about our future and what to look for and how our core values line up with schools.”

Clark, who made the trip with fellow Heir Football Academy athletes Kasen Kinchen‍ and Emeka Egbuka‍, was really impressed with the Irish’s practice session.

“Practice was dope,” he said. “The one thing we saw that we loved is that they got after it right away. They went live. They went straight to drills and they got after it. They were dogs out there.”

Clark currently has offers from Oregon, Oregon State, Washington State and Utah State. He doesn’t have any more visits on the horizon, but does plan on remaining in touch with the Irish.

“I think Coach Lyght and them are coming down sometime in April to see me and Kasen work out,” he said. “If everything goes well, maybe an offer pops up. But it is what it is, you’ve got to stay patient in the game.”

Clark would love to add that offer.

“It’d be big, especially coming from a school like Notre Dame,” he said.

“They’re really such a strong team that they’d be really high on my list.”