Davonte Neal: Notre Dame Should Be Embarrassed If Elite Recruit Chooses Arizona

The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame should be embarrassed if elite recruit Davonte Neal chooses to go to Arizona to play his collegiate football instead of joining their ranks.

Right now, according to a report from Anthony Gimino of the Tuscon Citizen, Neal is apparently deliberating between four schools, and Notre Dame is on that list.

Among the other three finalists are Arkansas, North Carolina and Arizona.

While Arkansas has been one of the better teams in the nation and North Carolina does produce good NFL talent, there are rumors floating around that Neal may actually choose to go to Arizona.

Richard Obert—the writer of the article—does state that Arizona did give Neal's best friend, linebacker Cody Ippolito, a scholarship to play with the school and it is closer to his dad, so they do have that going for them.

Also, the addition of new head coach Rich Rodriguez certainly would lead to a lot of receiving opportunities for the young wide receiver, who can also play corner.

That being said, how in the world do you choose playing for Rodriguez at Arizona over playing with Brian Kelly at one of the most historic and iconic football colleges of all-time?

It's important to note that there are also rumors saying that Neal will choose the Irish, which would make more sense.

This is Notre Dame football we are talking about, people.

This is the same school that brought you classic Saturday afternoons, a plethora of All-Americans and of course—Rudy.

The national exposure would be huge, as would the possible opportunities to play in some very important bowl games.

If Notre Dame can't recruit Neal, they should be embarrassed.

Not only should it go down as a strike against Kelly and his recruiting, but it would be a huge arguing point for all of those who say the Irish aren't relevant in the college football world anymore.

If they can't out-recruit Rodriguez and Arizona, how can we expect them to be a national power?

Simply put, Kelly and Notre Dame need Neal to pick them.

Not only would he be a huge addition on the football field—he's a 4-star recruit who runs a 4.4, 40 according to Rivals.com—but it would go a long ways in re-establishing Notre Dame's national influence.

At this point there's nothing else the Irish can do, as Neal has apparently made up his mind. Here's hoping that he's putting on a Notre Dame ball cap when all is said and done.

No offense to Arizona, but losing a big-time recruit to them would be an embarrassing loss for the Irish.