Ben Turk became the 8th athlete from the class of 2009 to commit to Notre Dame when he did so on Wednesday night.
“I committed to Coach Parmalee last night and I am excited to be coming to Notre Dame. It is such a great university and I am proud to be a part of it. I know that there are great things ahead for the football team and I want to be a part of it, so I committed now rather than waiting for really no reason,” Turk told BlueandGold.com.
According to the St. Thomas Aquinas High School Athletic Director George Smith, the match between Turk and Notre Dame should be perfect.
“Ben is a tough, tough kid. You have to understand that first and foremost. He is an athlete who can get after people. In the weight room, he might be our strongest pound-for-pound. That is why he will fit in at Notre Dame when the weather turns sometime later in the fall,” Smith said.
“We sent a kicker to Florida Atlantic University last year and we had one just graduate from Stanford last year. All of those kids have excellent legs, but Ben just has a certain toughness where he can kick in any condition. You don’t have to worry about him in the elements,” Smith explained.
Ben is the nephew of current NFL kicker Matt Turk, so he also has the genes to punt the football, but there is so much more to Turk than that.
“He is an outstanding young man. He is extremely polite and hard working and is just a nice young man off the field. He fits in well with the mission of our school and will do the same at Notre Dame.”
Along with competing on the football field at the highest levels, Notre Dame athletes have to compete in the class room. That should be even less of a worry, because Turk has proved himself there as well.
“He is carrying a 4.32 grade point average right now. He is an outstanding student who is very, very intelligent but he is a kid who also works hard at getting good grades and being an all-around student,” Smith concluded.
Turk is a great find for the Irish staff. Current punter Eric Maust will be a senior when Turk arrives, plus he is a baseball prospect who could end up going that route permanently prior to that, so the importance of this commitment should not be lost. Turk is generally considered to be the best punting prospect in this class.
It appears that the Irish might have the 2009 kicking recruiting wrapped up before the calendar flips again.
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“I committed to Coach Parmalee last night and I am excited to be coming to Notre Dame. It is such a great university and I am proud to be a part of it. I know that there are great things ahead for the football team and I want to be a part of it, so I committed now rather than waiting for really no reason,” Turk told BlueandGold.com.
