Berks prospect spurns Penn State for Notre Dame

Alex Anzalone, a linebacker from Berks County who had Penn State as one of three finalists for his choice of colleges, said Sunday night that he had made an oral commitment to Notre Dame for the freshman Class of 2013.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Anzalone, whose announcement was carried live by ESPNU, is a senior at Wyomissing Area High School. He de-committed from Ohio State in May, two weeks after announcing he would play football for the Buckeyes. He also had Florida on his final list.

"The academics really tipped the iceberg for me," Anzalone said at the Opening, a recruiting camp for the nation's top high school prospects conducted by Nike in Beaverton, Ore.

"I'm really close to the commits there. They took me in like a family on my last visit, and I had a really good time with them. That's when I knew."

Anzalone, who said he would enroll early at Notre Dame, visited Penn State on June 28 and told Mike Farrell, a recruiting coordinator for Rivals.com, that the trip "went really well."

For Penn State, which already has three linebackers in the fold for the Class of 2013, it marked the second time it was unable to get Anzalone, who played strong safety and running back last season for Wyomissing Area.

Anzalone was ranked in the top four in Pennsylvania by Rivals, Scout, and ESPNU, and in the top five prospects nationally among outside linebackers. He originally committed to Ohio State on April 21 while on a visit for the Scarlet and Gray spring football game in Columbus, but changed his mind May 4 after learning he had allowed his photograph to be taken after the game with a 31-year-old man who is a registered sex offender in Kentucky. Anzalone's father told ESPN.com that his son "was creeped out" by the matter.