Recruiting class: 2012

High School: Chaparral

Position: ATH

Height: 5'10"

Weight: 173

Player Bio: Feb. 21, 2012 Davonte' Neal finally showed up to his old Ahwatukee elementary school on Tuesday, without the students, without the orchestrated, splashy news event, and gave a college football commitment that was both exhilarating and frustrating for everybody waiting since Feb. 1: It's Notre Dame. The 5-foot-10, 175-pound Scottsdale Chaparral senior receiver/cornerback said he would come back this week to Kyrene de la Esperanza Elementary School, where he attended the fifth-grade, to apologize to the 600 children who had gathered in the morning at the school cafeteria for a scheduled announce-and-sign, webcast event that had been two weeks in the making. Neal said a family situation arose and he wasn't able to make it to his own event. Those close to the recruiting process believe there was a power struggle at home between father and son, that Davonte' was second-guessing the Notre Dame decision and wanted Arizona, where his best friend, Chaparral linebacker Cody Ippolito, is going. On Monday, Luke Neal hand delivered the un-opened Notre Dame Fed-Ex letter to Kyrene de la Esperanza Principal Cheryl Greene to hold onto until Tuesday morning's news conference. Neither Luke nor Davonte' returned messages to The Republic in the morning. Word got out in the afternoon that Davonte' was heading to the school to make his announcement. Davonte' was accompanied by his father and some of his friends, including Ippolito, who signed on National Signing Day Feb. 1 with Arizona. Luke and Davonte' declined to discuss the family emergency. Davonte' would only say, "it's still fresh. It happens. You can't really control it. It happens and you have to go with it." In the morning, Ippolito said Davonte' wasn't returning his messages. Neal, a Parade All-American, was the last remaining national high-profile football recruit from the class of 2012 to sign. Luke Neal said Monday that his son's college of choice wouldn't be UA, which made it apparent that his son would be headed to South Bend. After Neal signed the letter before a few friends and some media, with Greene and another school employee on hand, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly was called and put on a speaker phone. Kelly told Neal that he would be waiting near the fax machine. "I'm so happy it's all over with," Davonte' said. "I've had some sleepless nights."

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