Notre Dame Football Recruiting: David Perkins Stays Close to Home

South Bend Washington's David Perkins chose to keep the same zip code earlier this morning. Perkins, a 6'2", 210-pound running back and linebacker who is listed as a 4-star athlete by Scout, chose the Irish over schools such as Arizona, Michigan State and one-time frontrunner Syracuse.

Perkins, who boasts 4.4 speed in the 40 and a 36.5" vertical leap, rushed for 783 yards on 85 carries as a junior. He is a multi-talented athlete, also seeing time at wide receiver and defensive end.

Perkins, whose head coach is former Irish defensive lineman Antwan Jones, sat with his head coach in the library of Washington High along with about 80 spectators and stated what many people expected: He was staying close to home and continuing his education at Notre Dame.

Perkins stated:

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"I chose Notre Dame over Syracuse and Tennessee for the following clear reason: Notre Dame not only committed to me as an athlete, but also in the development as a man both academically and socially.

Coach Kelly and his staff have proven to me that Notre Dame will provide to me more than a four-year commitment. Instead, Notre Dame offers me a 40 year plan for a successful life. I believe, under the guidance of Coach Kelly and his staff, Notre Dame is headed back to a National Championship and I am honored to be one of the young men who will be part of the journey."

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He went on to say:

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"I would like to thank God, my parents, Coach Jones and his staff, Mr. McCullough, my teammates, and all those that have supported me in the community. Finally, I would like to thank the University of Notre Dame for the life changing opportunity they have afforded me."

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Coach Jones praised his players saying, "It has been a pleasure coaching such a great group of student athletes, men such as David Perkins, Gehrig Dieter, Terrance Bush and the list goes on and on. We will continue to have these types of press conferences."

"It's been a long, very enjoyable process," Perkins stated, "I've met a lot of great coaches, but Notre Dame grew on me."

Notre Dame is recruiting Perkins as an athlete, running back or outside linebacker, but he had also been recruited as a defensive end, safety and wide receiver by other institutions.

Perkins went on to speak about the certain standards that one has to reach while attending Notre Dame and that he will be expected to reach those standards. He spoke of Coach Kelly's outstanding track record and how great it is to be a part of Notre Dame's future.

When asked how it felt to be entering into something special, no matter what side of the ball he lands, Perkins said, "One of my goals, in the top two, would be winning a National Championship. The number one goal is getting a degree."

The word explosiveness was used by Coach Jones, over and over. He described Perkins as a linebacker who is a running back. Judging by David Perkins' performance today, he is also ready to explode in the classroom. 

Jim Sheridan is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes have been obtained first-hand unless otherwise noted. Jim can be reached at [e-mail].