Michael Katic excited about committing to play football at Indiana

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, July 6, 2018 | 11:00 PM

Pine-Richland offensive lineman Michael Katic, a rising senior, solidified his future by committing to play at Indiana.

Katic played offensive guard and defensive tackle during the Rams' state championship campaign. Most schools, including the Hoosiers, are recruiting the 6-foot-3, 270-pounder as a guard.

Ranked as a three-star recruit by Rivals and ESPN, Katic is the second lineman from Pine-Richland's 2019 class to commit to play Division I football. Offensive tackle Andrew Kristofic is committed to Notre Dame. Katic, meanwhile, chose Indiana over offers from schools such as Pitt, Virginia, Temple, Syracuse, Boston College, Louisville, Rutgers and Cincinnati.

While the prospect of playing in the Big Ten appealed to Katic, he said the overall feeling of Indiana being the right school for him helped drive his decision.

“I think it's a lot of the decision, just how you feel and what the environment and the atmosphere make you feel,” he said. “My whole family felt that there, too. That was a big part of it.

“My family and I went up to Bloomington to visit a couple of weeks ago, and we all fell in love with it. The day we got back from the visit, I sat down with my family, and we made the decision.”

Katic also liked the up-tempo, no-huddle offense the Hoosiers run. It is much like Pine-Richland's offense, so transitioning from his high school playbook to the Hoosiers' could be easier.

In the next couple of years, Indiana will be graduating a hefty share of its offensive line, something that was not lost on Katic.

“I've looked at that a lot,” he said. “The next two years, they're graduating like 10 offensive linemen. It just showed me that my availability to maybe play early is there if I work hard at it. It was a factor in my decision, also.”

Academics also played a significant role in Katic's commitment. On his visit, he was given a tour of the university's academic buildings by Paul Palmer, a senior lecturer in marketing and a professor at Indiana's school of business.

“It was fantastic. They have one of the top business schools in the country at Indiana,” Katic said. “Obviously, I would love to go to the NFL, but if that doesn't work out, the business school will set me up for a bright future, and that's something I'm excited about.”

Kevin Lohman is a freelance writer.

Tags: Pine-Richland