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Sharpley caps off big weekend for Irish

Marshall, Mich., quarterback Evan Sharpley had plenty of options to consider, but when he camped at Notre Dame recently, there really only seemed to be one option in the end. So with that in mind, the 6-foot-2, 200 pound pro-style quarterback decided to end the recruiting process.
Sharpley, a top 10 player in the state of Michigan, decided to go ahead and commit to the Fighting Irish on Saturday. With offers from Iowa, LSU, Wisconsin and several other high-quality programs, the decision for Sharpley was a difficult one, but in the end, the Irish were just too good to pass up.
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“Evan would tell you that Notre Dame’s perfect mix of academics, football and baseball were too good to pass up,” his father, Tom Sharpley, said. “Plus, it’s Notre Dame.”
As a junior, Sharpley was named first team all-state in Division 4 by the Detroit Free Press. He threw for 1,860 yards and 26 touchdowns as a sophomore. Last year, he completed 51 percent of his passes for 1,942 yards and 19 touchdowns.
Sharpley camped this summer at Notre Dame, Michigan and Purdue. He came away with offers from the Irish and Wolverines, but in the end the Irish seemed like the perfect fit, his father said.
“Notre Dame is going to bring back the forward pass,” Sharpley said. “We did a lot of research and looked into what Stanford was doing when coach (Tyrone) Willingham was coaching out there. They did a lot of great things throwing the ball around, and that’s attractive to a quarterback like Evan.”
Sharpley’s commitment was just one piece of a major recruiting haul this weekend. Along with Sharpley, the Irish picked up commitments from receivers David Grimes and David Nelson. They also landed linebackers Scott Smith and Kevin Washington.
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