The last piece of the 2011 recruiting puzzle looked to be Mater Dei High (Santa Ana, Calif.) inside linebacker Joe Schmidt after he opted to accept the invitation to join the team as a preferred walk-on, but apparently there was enough room left to add another in the same capacity - Eric Lee of Dowling Catholic High (West Des Moines, Iowa).

ILB Joe Schmidt (in photo) will be joined by WR Eric Lee as a preferred walk-on for the 2011 haul.

Whereas Scmidt's path to being a preferred walk-on at Notre Dame entailed turning down offers from programs like Air Force and Cincinnati, Lee's was quite different. Aside from his school getting additional attention because his teammate, wide receiver Amara Darboh, is a highly touted 2012 prospect, his coaching staff was also pulling for him.

"I've always wanted to go to Notre Dame," the 5-9, 165-pound player reported to BlueandGold.com. "I had a pretty good season and one of my coaches has been able to build a good relationship with Notre Dame, so he sent my film in and put in a good word for me.

"I talked to the coaches and they said they liked me as a preferred walk-on (a player offered a spot on the roster without a scholarship) and I just needed to get accepted into the school."

After getting official word back from the university, it didn't take long for Lee to hop on board.

"I received the news last week that I've been accepted, so I was pretty pumped to tell the coaches that I'm in," he added.

Lee may have not had programs larger than Divsion II and III schools pursuing him, but he's always had his eye on the prize. He set out to choose a school he wanted to go to and make the rest work from there.

"It was an easy choice for me to want to go there," he said. "Notre Dame has the richest tradition in college football history. I have a lot of respect for the program and I can't wait to get a taste of it when I'm there."

Lee helped lead his team to a 14-0 season and state title in 2010. Despite being listed as a running back in most databases, he was actually told by Notre Dame that he'll be starting off as a slot receiver. He reports a 4.6 in the 40-yard dash, a max bench of 235 pounds, a max squat of 350 pounds and carries a 4.1 GPA.

The versatile player is also on the basketball team (started at point guard and averaged 9 points per game), this is his first year running track (100-, 200-, 400-meter and relay races for each event) and he's the starting second baseman for his baseball team in the summer.

His older sister, Shelby, is a freshman at St. Louis University, his younger sister, Jenna, is a sophomore in high school and the youngest sibling, Adam, is in sixth grade.

Lee's teammate, Darboh, has been offered by Notre Dame, and they've both confirmed with us that they'll be on hand for the Blue-Gold Game on April 16.

"I haven't been there yet, but I'm excited to be there for the spring game," he said.

In addition to Lee, shortstop Jason McMurray, who also attends Dowling Catholic, will also be enrolling in the fall, but on a baseball scholarship.

With the direct ties to the program, Lee has sensed an increased interest in his teammate.

"(Amara and I) are pretty good friends. Ever since I accepted the preferred walk-on spot at Notre Dame I've been working on him," he laughed. "I don't want to speak for him, but I do know that he likes Notre Dame a lot and is very happy for me."

Lee is aware of the upcoming battle he'll face due to being brought in as a walk-on instead of a scholarship player, but he has never bowed out of competition in the past and he doesn't plan on starting now.

"I've put in a lot of hard work to get to this point," he said of his journey. "I wasn't always the biggest and strongest guy, so I kept working hard in the classroom and on the field.

" I'm going to have to keep that same balance moving forward because I know Notre Dame is challenging, but I'm prepared to continue working hard."

And the hard work has paid off.