ND Lands Punter

BlueandGold.com has learned that Fresno (Calif.) San Joaquin Memorial punter Andrew Antognoli has committed to Notre Dame as a preferred walk-on.

The one-time Harvard pledge capped his prep career as a Semper Fidelis All-American, which is when his trainer, Chris Sailer of Chris Sailer Kicking (the premier kicking/punting camp in the country), said that things began to heat up for Antognoli.

"He's a five-star punter," Sailer said. "A top-10 nationally ranked guy. He has all the tools. Like any high school player he's unproven and will have to work on his trade. He'll work hard and has a great leg and has all the tools to be a D-1 punter.

"He's mature, a hard worker and all those things points towards a guy that's going to develop," Sailer said. "Andrew told Notre Dame that he wants to be part of the program a couple days ago, but he wanted to have everything clear with Harvard first before making it public.

"Notre Dame is getting a good one. He has all the tools you're looking for in a college punter."

Other recent preferred walk-ons on the Irish roster include Joe Schmidt and Eric Lee.