Coach Brian Kelly received his 5th verbal commitment for the 2013 class today in OT Hunter Bivin (Owensboro, KY – Apollo). Bivin gave his pledge following Junior Day and is listed at 6’7" and 290 lbs.
Bivin chose the Irish over several national offers from schools such as Oklahoma, Florida, Auburn, Georgia, Penn State, Michigan and Miami (FL). Bivin grew up as an Irish fan and now joins a loaded class at OT with Steve Elmer and co-Junior Day visitor Colin McGovern. It appears that the staff will look to add one more OL in this class, likely an interior lineman.
Recruiting Service Rankings:
ESPN – Not Yet Rated (ESPNU 150 Watch List)
Rivals – 4 star (#34 OT), 5.8 Grade
Scout – 4 star (#16 OT)
247Sports – 4 star (#2 KY, #10 OT), 94 Grade (#76 Overall)
Highlights after the jump.
Highlights:
Hunter Bivin Highlights (via 999sportsdude)
Impact:
Immediate Future:
Normally, offensive lineman spend a year acclimating to the college game and working in the weight room to add/redistribute weight. I fully expect to see that with Hunter, but the kid does squat over 500 lbs already.
Long Term/Career:
Hunter is physically dominant at the point of attack at the high school level. He does a phenomenal job of staying with the block on both passing and running plays as well as gets to the second level quickly when called upon to do so. From the film that I watched, I think he might be a better fit at the right tackle as opposed to the left.
He probably needs to work a little on getting the proper pad level and maintaining leverage on the defensive player, but as new OL coach Harry Hiestand told him during junior day:
Pass blocking= basketball deffense, and a street fight. -coach Hiestand
— Hunter Bivin (@HunterBivin) March 24, 2012
Welcome to Notre Dame Hunter!