Notre Dame linebacker to transfer to KU

By Matt Tait     Apr 14, 2012

The multi-week speculation surrounding whether Notre Dame linebacker Anthony McDonald would transfer to Kansas University turned official Friday.

McDonald, a 6-foot-2, 230-pound middle linebacker becomes the latest graduate to pledge his services to the Jayhawks, joining former Notre Dame teammates Dayne Crist and Mike Ragone and former Nebraska defensive lineman Josh Williams.

On signing day, back in February, KU coach Charlie Weis said he expected more fifth-year transfers to join his team. He also discussed why he was so keen on adding them.

“I’m going to be open to that every year and I’m going to tell you why,” Weis said. “For every one of these fifth-years I bring in, they’re also going out. So they don’t cost me a potential recruit because you have a guy who has some experience coming to play without affecting your numbers in recruiting at all.”

McDonald, who was a high school teammate of Crist’s in California, will graduate from Notre Dame in May and will join Weis’ new program in June.

During his four years at Notre Dame, McDonald played in 28 games, including all 12 games in 2009 and 11 more during 2010.

The addition of McDonald brings the total number of commitments in KU’s most recent recruiting class to 25. The Jayhawks have added five Div. I transfers, nine junior college transfers and 11 prep players.

McDonald is the third linebacker in the class, joining Schyler Miles, of Berkley Prep in Tampa, Fla., and Courtney Arnick, of Carter High in Dallas.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.