Hendrix to ND; Sportswriters Rejoice | by Pat

Following in the footsteps of The Mighty Quinn, Santa Clausen, and Crist Almighty, Andrew Hendrix publicly committed to Notre Dame, and ensured even more punny headlines about ND's quarterbacks. (Is He Experienced?, etc.)

Back to ND for his second visit of the spring, Hendrix committed to ND and ended his recruitment.

"It was really tough," Hendrix said. "(But) Notre Dame is the right place for me in the end and it's everything I want in a school athletically, academically and religiously."

Hailing from the one-time ND pipeline Moeller High School in Ohio, Hendrix is the second GCL player to pick ND over Ohio State this year joining Elder tight end Alex Welch. In addition to the Buckeyes, Hendrix has offers from Nebraska, Miami, Michigan State, Tennessee, Boston College, and others.

The recruiting sites aren't in complete agreement over the 6'3" 220 pound Hendrix, but these rankings were made before ND and OSU stepped up with offers. It wouldn't suprise me to see Hendrix move up a bit, especially on Scout who has him as a 3-star recruit and the #27 QB in the class. Rivals is a bit more bullish, giving Hendrix a 4-star ranking and slotting him as the #200 overall recruit and #11 pro-style QB in the class. ESPN hasn't assigned a number ranking to Hendrix yet because he's one of their many Top 150 watch list players. But their writeup of him is pretty positive and echoes the underrated theme.

Hendrix could be the biggest sleeper in this class not only as a powerful pocket passer, but also as a deceptively good athlete. He possesses adequate-to-good height and a solid build. Arm strength is outstanding and he is one of the few players in this class with natural downfield power and terrific wrist snap and velocity on all throws.

Hendrix's highlights bolster the "deceptively good athlete" cliche as he's constantly scrambling for yards and throwing on the run. He sort of reminds me of Crist, in that he's mobile for a big guy and will put his shoulder down and get a few extra yards at the end of the run. Notice only two snaps in the whole 6+ minute highlight reel are taken from under center, so Hendrix will have some adjustment to a more traditional pro-style offense once he arrives in South Bend. Hendrix appears already set on not rushing things anyway.

Hendrix said he will likely redshirt the first year and be able to get ahead with classes. He is interested in the medical field.

Rivals put together an interesting additional highlight reel/analysis in that it's one of the few times I can remember them showing a QB throw incomplete passes while discussing some weaknesses. On nearly every other QB highlight reel you'll ever see, the QB tends to have a 99% completion percentage. To be honest, it makes for a better analysis in my opinion to show the bad with the good.

Like Sharpley, Hendrix might double-dip and play baseball if the stars line up right. Currently, Hendrix is a pitcher for Moeller's state championship baseball team.

Hendrix, who is also on the Moeller's baseball team, said he will also consider playing for the Notre Dame baseball team if the opportunity presents itself. He said he's already spoken with Weis regarding that possibility.

After not taking a QB last year, ND absolutely needed one in this class and may even see if there is a second interested QB recruit. In the meantime, the 2010 depth chart isn't terribly deep, but assuming Clausen returns for his senior year, there is plenty of talent. Let's just hope Hendrix works out as well as the last Ohio QB recruit.

Fifth Year	Senior	Junior	Sophomore	Freshman
	Jimmy Clausen	Dayne Crist *		Andrew Hendrix
		Nate Montana *