The last time Justin Ferguson visited Notre Dame he figured out that it was the place for him.
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound receiver from Pembroke Pines, Fla., (Flanagan) was blown away by his visit for Notre Dame’s spring game and made it official two weeks later when he offered the Irish his verbal commitment. Ferguson will return to South Bend for his official visit this weekend for Notre Dame’s game against USC.
“I’m so excited,” he said. “I can’t wait to go up there. I want to pick back up where I left off my last visit.”
Ferguson met several fellow commitments during his initial visit to Notre Dame and has continued to build a solid relationship with Ronald Darby while seeing fellow Irish pledges Tee Shepard, Deontay Greenberry and David Perkins at The Opening in Oregon over the summer.
“Ronald is not going to be there, but I’ve talked to Tee, David and Deontay,” Ferguson said. “We’re all excited.”
Ferguson believes the mingling with the members of the Irish’s next recruiting class will give them a head start for their collegiate careers.
“We have to keep building that bond,” he said. “We already started from our last visit and The Opening. We’re still talking, not every day, but a lot. We’re just going to continue building that bond so that when we get there we’ll have that thing so that we’re all on the same page when we get there.”
In addition to strengthening the relationships with his classmates, Ferguson is hoping to start forging new ones with some of the current members of Notre Dame’s football squad.
“I haven’t really got the chance to meet them, but I’m going to be with them the next couple of years also,” he said. “I definitely want to get a chance to meet them and see what they’re about.”
And, perhaps most importantly to Irish fans, Ferguson will be trying to add members to the incoming class with a large group of uncommitted targets also scheduled to be on campus.
“Whoever is there, we’re going to try to show them how important it’s going to be for them to be there for the next four or five years,” he said.
Ferguson was disappointed with Notre Dame’s two losses to start the season, but hasn’t been surprised by the current four-game winning streak.
“It’s not exactly what I expected, but after the first couple of losses, it was pretty much what I expected,” he said of the first half of the Irish’s season. “Both of the losses they had, they played really well, they just didn’t get the ball in the end zone. After those two losses, I knew they were going to come out and keep battling and get the wins. I like what they’re doing on defense and on offense.”
Ferguson has been particularly impressed with the play of Michael Floyd.
“He’s amazing,” Ferguson said. “I didn’t get a chance to watch all of the games, but I watched the highlights. He’s doing his thing. Those are going to be some big shoes to fill, but I think I can do it.”
Ferguson, who was visited by Irish assistant Tony Alford last week, is looking to finish his senior season strong after a couple of tough losses.
“We lost to the number two team in the state and number 14 team in the state and we had a shot to beat both of them,” he said. “We’re doing good, we’ve just got to get the ball in the end zone. I think we can really relate our problems to what ND was going through in the beginning of the season.”
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