OL Doering sets two official visits

Barrington, Ill. offensive tackle prospect Dan Doering (6-foot-6, 280 pounds) was one of several prospects in attendance for the Notre Dame spring game on Saturday, and Doering came away impressed with the Irish, so impressed in fact that Doering will make an official visit to South Bend later in 2004.

“I got into South Bend on Saturday morning," Dan Doering said. “I just got back tonight (Sunday). We stayed for the spring game and then we also had more junior day activities today as well as a photo shoot. I'm pretty tired but my weekend at Notre Dame was definitely worth it."

So what were Doering's impressions of the Notre Dame spring game? "It was really a nice day. On Saturday morning we were able to catch up with Ed Zbikowski, Tommy's father, and we tailgated with the Zbikowski family. We went over to the recruiting room in the Joyce Center and I was able to talk with Coach Willingham. Then we saw a very impressive video on Notre Dame football, then we went into the locker room before and after the game."

"I was really impressed with the Irish during the spring game. Brady Quinn threw the ball really well and he was impressive. I also thought that Tommy Zbikowski played very well, and he was named the defensive MVP for the game. I was also impressive with the number of prospects at the game, and I was able to meet and talk to several kids from across the country. Overall I had a very good experience this weekend at Notre Dame. I told the coaches before I left South Bend that I was going to make an official visit to Notre Dame in the winter."

Official visit? Doering has in fact told the coaches at Notre Dame and at Iowa that he will in fact be making official visits to both schools. "I told Coach Ferentz last week that I will be making an official visit to Iowa in the winter, and now Notre Dame." So has Doering begun to narrow his top schools listing? "I guess you can say that both Iowa and Notre Dame are two of my top schools, and I'm hoping to be able to narrow things down by the summer."

Does Notre Dame have a serious advantage with junior offensive guard Dan Stevenson from Barrington helping to recruit Dan Doering? "Dan has been great, and we both had some time to talk this weekend. Dan has been giving me some very good advice regardless of whether I end up at Notre Dame or not. Dan has been great as well as very helpful, and he definitely has talked to me about the advantages that Notre Dame has to offer."

Dan Doering currently has scholarship offers from LSU, Indiana, Purdue, Tennessee, Boston College, Notre Dame, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Southern Cal, UCLA, Michigan, Michigan State, Arizona, Illinois, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Georgia Tech.