Tag: blue and gold

Notre Dame has unofficial visit with top 2026 women’s hoops recruit

A positive first step in the Irish’s pursuit of her.

The Notre Dame women’s basketball team is primed for a great season. But as promising as the present looks, preparing for the future is the best way to know whether the program will thrive. If one certain thing goes the Irish’s way, that future will look extremely promising.

Kate Harpring, an Atlanta native and the daughter of 11-year NBA veteran Matt Harpring, is the top-rated player in the 2026 recruiting class according to 247Sports. As of right now, the Irish have not made her an offer unlike seven other programs.

However, there is hope that Harpring could don the blue and gold someday. She took to social media to announce that she made an unofficial visit to the Irish. While there obviously is a long way to go before she decides to take her talents to South Bend, images like the following can’t help but make one excited about the possibility:

Best of luck to Harpring in her college search, but let’s pray that she picks the Irish.

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2025 four-star power forward recruit lists Notre Dame on final five

Hope he chooses to stay in-state.

Notre Dame does not yet have a commit for its 2025 recruiting class. However, one four-star power forward recruit from Indianapolis could change that. We’ll just have to see.

Brady Koehler, who attends Cathedral, has narrowed his choice to five schools, including the Irish. Also on the list are Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Iowa and Northwestern. He has visits lined up with each school. Notre Dame’s visit, the third chronically on his itinerary, happening from Sept. 6 through Sept. 8.

Koehler is listed as Indiana’s fourth-ranked recruit in the 2025 recruiting class according to 247Sports. That site also indicates that the Demon Deacons are the favorites to land him. However, Cathedral has also the Fighting Irish as its mascot along with the Blue and Gold as its colors, so maybe that’s an advantage for [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] and his staff?

Koehler is coming off a season in which he averaged 15.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks a game. That will catch the attention of any college program.

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Pittsburgh statistical leaders through seven games

You might recognize a couple of these names.

Notre Dame fans will see a couple of familiar faces when their team battles Pittsburgh. That’s because the Panthers’ top quarterback and running back both once donned the blue and gold. In fact, a lot of the Panthers’ best players are transfers, either because they didn’t get the opportunities they sought at other programs or they wanted to use up college eligibility elsewhere. Either way, many of these Panthers didn’t start as Panthers.

Is that part of the reason the Panthers’ offense isn’t as strong as their defense? Perhaps, but either way, most of this season has not gone well for the Steel City program. The fact that they handled Louisville and the Irish didn’t is not a good look for [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] and his staff. Alas, nothing can be done to change that now.

Assuming the Panthers can make this a game, here are the players most likely to do that:

Podcast host: Any fan selling Ohio State tickets ‘an absolute loser’

Do you agree with this?

Notre Dame will host Ohio State on Sept. 23 in one of the most anticipated games of the 2023 season. It will only be the Buckeyes’ third trip to Notre Dame Stadium with the only previous ones coming in 1936 and 1996.

With the Buckeyes only playing in South Bend once every one or two generations, plenty of Buckeyes fans will take advantage of the opportunity to see it. But “Golden Homers” podcast host and former Blue and Gold writer Mason Plummer doesn’t take kindly to Irish fans actively aiding fans of “THE” Ohio State University:

While the “loser” label might be a little harsh, Plummer does have a point. The Buckeyes will be in the national championship conversation once again, and the last thing the Irish need is their own fans enabling the possibility of the game sounding like it’s being played in Columbus. If you must sell your tickets to that game, be careful with who you’re selling them to.

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Watch: Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman find Jayden Thomas for touchdown

Hartman looks good!

It didn’t take long for new [autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag] quarterback [autotag]Sam Hartman[/autotag] to find the end zone in Notre Dame Stadium.

During the first drive of the Blue and Gold game, Hartman drove his Gold squad down the field and found wide receiver [autotag]Jayden Thomas[/autotag] for a short touchdown pass.

Hartman looked very good on the first drive, and for him to lead his team to points is extremely encouraging.

There is a quarterback “battle.” Neither Hartman nor [autotag]Tyler Buchner[/autotag] has been anointed by head coach [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] as the starter. After their first series, it’s easy to make an assumption the job might be Hartman’s to lose. Check out his touchdown pass below.

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Follow Mike on Twitter: @MikeFChen

Watch: Mark Packer vents during Ivey Coach of the Year announcement

Take our advice and don’t be like Mark Packer.

If you don’t agree with Notre Dame’s [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] being named the ACC Coach of the Year, that’s fine. Like anyone else, you’re entitled to your opinion. But that opinion should wait until after the award winner has been announced, not during. This piece of advice was either lost on or ignored by the ACC Network’s Mark Packer as Ivey’s honor was announced on live TV, and thanks to Blue and Gold’s Tyler Horka, his bitterness now is on Twitter for all to see:

Look, you definitely can make a case for Duke’s Kara Lawson to have won the award. After all, her Blue Devils proved a formidable foe for the Irish all the way to the end, even winning at Purcell Pavilion. But again, why does this have to happen during the moment of truth?

This reflects poorly on Packer and doesn’t help the notion of ESPN’s alleged bias towards all things Duke. If he’s going to throw a tantrum while the ACC awards are being announced, someone else needs to emcee this show in the future. You cannot and should not display this egregious lack of professionalism at the wrong time. All young broadcasters should note this is what not to do during an awards show.

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Watch: Manti Te’o makes pregame speech to Notre Dame faithful

Tie to get fired up.

It’s hard to believe it already has been 10 years since Manti Te’o was a Heisman Trophy finalist. That means it’s been almost as long since the world learned of the embarrassing catfishing saga he found himself tied up in. However, all Notre Dame fans saw when he appeared before them and the current Irish was a program legend who would run through a brick wall for his alma mater. You couldn’t come to any other conclusion after hearing this speech, which was recorded by Tyler Horka of Blue and Gold:

Te’o’s prediction of an “all-ager rager” at Notre Dame Stadium might be the first of its kind to be on the record. Like every other Irish supporter, he knows that the team needs all the motivation it can get as it prepares to host California. If the Irish win and Te’o chooses to take credit for it, is anyone really going to complain? That’s how desperate everyone is for good news.

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Notre Dame lands 3-star cornerback recruit Jayden Bellamy

The Irish have a new future cornerback.

Notre Dame’s secondary will be getting a big boost after the coming season. Jayden Bellamy, a three-star cornerback and Oradell, New Jersey, native who plays at Bergen Catholic, has committed to the Irish:

Bellamy, who made an official visit to Notre Dame on June 18, chose the Irish after previously narrowing his selection down to them, Rutgers and Penn State. Before that, he had a slightly bigger finalist field of Ohio State, Clemson and Oklahoma.

When asked by Blue and Gold why he picked the Irish, Bellamy, the 17th commitment among players who will arrive in South Bend in 2022, said the following:

“Academics played a big part, and I bonded the best with Coach [Mike] Mickens, Coach [Marcus] Freeman and the whole staff. When I was with them during the visit, we were making a lot of jokes, and ever since they offered me, they went after me hard. That played a part, too.”

The Irish stand to lose only a few senior cornerbacks after the 2021 season. The majority of that unit is made up of freshmen and sophomores. By the time Bellamy comes, that group will have gotten to know each other a lot. There will be no shortage of players to show him the ropes. The best part for Bellamy is this is the group he will consider his brothers going forward.