Irish land Rivals250 quarterback

Kettering (Ohio) Archbishop Alter quarterback Malik Zaire desired to make his commitment in the spring since the start of his recruitment, but in recent weeks had talked about pushing his commitment date into the summer.

With spring just a few days old, however, Zaire followed through with his initial intentions, giving his pledge to Notre Dame.

"After going there for their junior day and getting an in-depth look at the campus, it's everything that fits me I feel," Zaire said. "It was definitely the visit that opened my eyes a lot. I just got that gut feeling that you don't feel at every place you go to and I just think it is something I couldn't pass up."

Zaire visited South Bend on Saturday for the Irish's junior day. After a day of mulling the opportunity to make his commitment, Zaire called head coach Brian Kelly with his verdict on Sunday afternoon.

The 6-1, 190-pound Zaire is one of the top athletes at the quarterback position in the class of 2013, but he also possesses one of the most active arms in the class. That combination appealed strongly to Notre Dame.

"They liked the fact that I was accurate and at the same time athletic enough to make plays and buy time to throw the ball downfield," Zaire said. "The offense fits me very well because they do a lot of different things. They do play-action, they do the run game and spread it out. I'm excited to be a part of it."

Pitt, Nebraska, Ohio State, Alabama and more than a dozen other schools had shown strong interest and extended scholarship offers to Zaire. Notre Dame's offer came just over a month ago, and the Irish worked hard in that month to beat out other schools that were considered to have better shots at Zaire.

"The recruiting process has been very good to me, I've enjoyed it a lot and I had a chance to look at a lot of different opportunities out there," Zaire said. "For Notre Dame to come up and express an interest in me and show how much they want me over there, it gave me a greater feeling about it. Now I can focus more on my team, winning a state championship and moving forward from there."

Getting their quarterback should continue to help Notre Dame's recruiting efforts in the class. They have now added four commitments from Saturday's junior day, and Zaire is already comparing notes with his fellow classmates to further the Irish's 2013 efforts.

"I talked to James Onwualu," Zaire said. "I just wanted to see who else Notre Dame was looking at before I got after them."

The commitment of Zaire gives Notre Dame seven commitments in the class of 2013, all of whom have a Rivals Rating of 5.7 or higher.