Notre Dame graduate transfer Malik Zaire is reportedly still considering a move to Wisconsin.
A few months ago, Notre Dame Fighting Irish graduate transfer quarterback Malik Zaire was supposed to be making his decision on where he will be playing football next fall, but a few pending factors postponed his decision until the Spring.
One of those factors was the fate of North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Mitch Trubisky. The Heels were amongst the top, if not number one, on Zaire’s list and whether or not Trubisky was to come back to school or enter the NFL Draft would be a major component in the final outcome. In early January, Trubisky declared for the draft- making the forthcoming decision for Zaire a whole lot easier it seemed.
Zaire waited, and is still waiting to make his decision, and just this past week- a shakeup in the story came forward as LSU quarterback Brandon Harris announced he was transferring to North Carolina, which has now opened up Zaire’s list and brought us back to square one.
Former #LSU and Parkway QB Brandon Harris has announced he's transferring to #UNC. Immediately eligible.
— KSLA News 12 Sports (@KSLASports) March 26, 2017
One of the main focuses of Zaire’s decision-making process is the opportunity to be the starter and play the maximum amount of snaps as possible. Being a graduate student with one year left and seeing his career go from a starter to a backup with the rise of DeShone Kizer at Notre Dame, Zaire will not settle for anything less than a starting gig.
"“With it being my fifth year, I just thought it was really important to be able to make a decision the best I can, by being careful and taking in as much information as I can to take the best opportunity,” Zaire told the Tribune on Wednesday night."
"“I think that was the best decision for me. I’m giving all of myself to physically be the part and be on point with my technique, so I can go to the next school and be the leader and be the quarterback of the team.”"
In a recent report from Yahoo! Sports, Zaire listed Wisconsin still as a possible option, as well as he had been contacted by Texas. Teams like Michigan State, Florida, and Baylor could also be in the mix as they were one of the first couple teams listed initially.
Despite this, Zaire does not have a finalized list at this time.
“I don’t have one right now. I’m just being open and still talking (to teams),” Zaire said. “I have to take a couple visits that I’m going to set up and really be on point with that.”
There is no timetable for his decision.