Notre Dame comes knocking for Andrews

Mark Andrews was holding a basketball when he received an invitation to play football for Notre Dame. Sometime between shooting drills and inbounds plays, Irish assistant Bob Elliott strolled into the high school gym, took in a chunk of Monday afternoon's practice, pulled the Desert Mountain wide receiver aside and offered him a scholarship.

Andrews, better known for his prowess as a dominant wide receiver than his jumper, didn't have much time to chuckle at the circumstances surrounding his 15th offer, though. Instead, the conversation with Elliot consumed him.

As did his excitement.

"Notre Dame is a great school." Andrews said. "Obviously, you can get a great education there on top of football. I've been very excited about it since yesterday. I'm really excited to keep in contact and get to know them a lot better."

Ties to Notre Dame are in short supply for the four-star prospect. He participated in passing league with current Irish commit Cole Luke over the summer, but doesn't categorize him as a close friend. And other than the obvious exposure that comes with being the top-ranked team in American, Andrews admittedly is unfamiliar with the city of South Bend and the university it houses.

So he's decided to explore.

"We already talked about a visit," Andrews said. "I think I'm going to go there for an unofficial, but we don't have an exact date or anything like that yet for when I'm supposed to go out."

The 6-foot-6, 225-pound Andrews boasts the build of a tight end but has expressed a desire to remain at wide receiver in college. During his conversation with Elliot on Monday, his potential role with the Fighting Irish remained somewhat undefined. He has trouble describing it even now.

"He told me they see me as basically a wide receiver, but they want me to move around," he said. "It's like … they want to fill a sort of role like the one [current Note Dame tight end] Tyler Eifert plays, but a little different."

The side plot at work in Andrews' recruitment includes his best friend and quarterback Kyle Allen. The duo has been self-described "best friends since kindergarten." And while neither will use the term "package deal," they'd very much like to remain teammates on the next level if at all possible.

"We're not going to base our decision on that," Andrews said. "It's something we would definitely like to do. It's something we definitely talk about. It's going to be a little bit of a factor, but not anything huge."

Andrews is a member of the Rivals250 watch list for 2014 and is regarded as one of the top juniors in the state of Arizona. This season, he and Allen led Scottsdale (Ariz.) Desert Mountain to 9-3 overall record.

Allen, a four-star prospect, also projects as a Rivals250 player.