It’s down to Minnesota, UCLA and Vanderbilt for the highly touted Hopkins WR.
Andre McDonald, a 6-foot-3 senior wide receiver from Hopkins, is visiting UCLA this weekend. The wideout recently visited Minnesota, a school who he had committed to in February and is also considering Vanderbilt, a school that he also committed to in September.
GopherHole.com caught up with McDonald for a Q&A after Hopkins’ basketball win over Milwaukee Riverside in the East Metro Showcase to learn the latest on his recruitment.
McDonald caught 60 passes for 1,251 yards and 17 touchdowns as a senior. He finished his career with 138 grabs for 2,699 yards and 39 touchdowns.
McDonald grabbed 64 passes for 1144 yards (17.9 yards per reception) with 19 touchdowns as a junior.
McDonald was named Associated Press All-State first team the past two years. He was a two-time All-Lake Conference and All-Metro selection.
Hopkins head coach John DenHartog feels that McDonald is one of the best players in Royal’s history.
“Andre’s skill set is something that doesn’t come along very often in high school football,” said DenHartog. “He has the unique ability to be big, fast and very quick. Andre is a great competitor who refuses to be tackled and believes he is going to score every time he touches the ball. Andre is also a great leader. He leads the team with his outstanding work ethic and competitive spirit. When teams take the field to play Hopkins that had to gear their game plan to take into account his unique abilities,”
McDonald committed to Minnesota in February, but decided to re-open recruitment. He committed to Vanderbilt after visiting the campus in early September. McDonald decided to make further college visits after Chris Beatty, the Vanderbilt wide receivers coach, took a job at Illinois.
He played Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl, a first year event for many of the top high school gridiron standouts and will also appear in the International Bowl.
GopherHole: You go to UCLA today, right?
Andre McDonald: I go in a couple of hours.
GopherHole: What are you hoping to learn from the visit?
Andre McDonald: More about the school. See the environment on campus and see what kind of relationships I can establish.
GopherHole: Are you going to announce on the 1st?
Andre McDonald: I’m not sure. Whenever I feel ready.
GopherHole: Did you hurt your shoulder in the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl?
Andre McDonald: Yes, I hurt my shoulder a little bit. It is sore, but it is nothing that I can’t fight through.
GopherHole: Pretty impressive wins in basketball the past two days. You have to be pretty pleased with how well you are playing.
Andre McDonald: We are playing great. It is fun. We are all having fun playing together. It is just fun playing with the guys.
GopherHole: What has been the best part of the recruiting process?
Andre McDonald: Probably, just having the people there like my family to help me through it.
GopherHole: What about the least favorite thing?
Andre McDonald: All the phone calls. From other people. Coaches. All the time. I don’t get a break.
GopherHole: Will you be glad when you finally make your decision and can go back to just being a kid?
Andre McDonald: Oh, yeah.
GopherHole: I know that Minnesota had coach Jim Zebrowski and Brian Anderson were at your basketball game Friday? Did you get a chance to talk to them?
Andre McDonald: We are all communicating. There is no decisions being made anytime soon.
GopherHole: What do you like about Vanderbilt the most?
Andre McDonald: Education. The town. It is a small school. I like the small school.
GopherHole: What about Minnesota?
Andre McDonald: The coaches. They are my favorite and being home. Having my family and my friends around
GopherHole: What do you like about UCLA?
Andre McDonald: California (laughing). It is nice. I know a couple of the guys through recruiting, a couple of the players that are going there. They are nice guys. The coaches that I have been communicating with a nice to talk to and are easy to relate to. The experience that they have with the NFL coaches. They have all played in the league or been NFL coaches. I like that knowledge that they have of football.
GopherHole: I know that you were very close to the Vanderbilt wide receiver coach who left to go to Illinois. Is that the relationship you focus on with the wide receivers coaches of schools since you’ll be working with them?
Andre McDonald: I would like to think that the best relationship that I should have is with my receiver coach.