Tag: Class of 2026

Notre Dame extends offer to guard recruit Rodney Rice

Think a kid from Mike Brey’s alma mater will be swayed by that connection?

With several guards entering their senior seasons, Notre Dame will need to replenish its backcourt soon. It goes without saying, but Mike Brey and his staff intend to pull out every stop to make sure new players come to South Bend and thrive in the guard position. How about going after a player from DeMatha Catholic in Maryland, Brey’s alma mater? We know that’s happened after recruit Rodney Rice announced an offer had been made Monday night:

Rice checks in at 6-foot-4, 185 pounds, which is perfect for a guard. Notre Dame is the 22nd school to make him an offer, and 247Sports has Indiana, Louisville and Alabama as the most likely landing spots for Rice. He’s also drawn interest from Maryland, Rutgers, Michigan, Kentucky, South Carolina, Marquette, Oklahoma State, Penn State, Miami, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Illinois.

While Brey surely has been around long enough to know that sharing a high school with Rice won’t make a difference in the final decision, he has to be holding onto that hope somewhere in the back of his mind, right?

Notre Dame target Jaylen Sneed named linebacker MVP at Rivals Camp

A Notre Dame target had a great weekend.

Any college program eyeing a recruit always has to be thrilled whenever that recruit achieves an impressive feat on the playing surface. To that end, Notre Dame surely had to be excited to see outside linebacker target Jaylen Sneed do well at the Rivals Camp he participated in. In fact, he was named the best linebacker at the camp and now is set to take part in the Rivals Five-Star Challenge:

Sneed, who hails from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, announced he had received an offer from Marcus Freeman on Jan. 18. Since then, both Rivals and 247Sports have picked Notre Dame as the clear-cut favorite to land Sneed’s services. Of course, it’s by no means a done deal because the Irish have to hope their offer beats out those from South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia Tech and Florida among others. However, it’s fun to anticipate Sneed putting pen to paper to indicate that he’s indeed coming to South Bend.

Notre Dame presents offer to two-way recruit Kye Stokes

Notre Dame wants this two-way athlete to play safety.

The two-way college football player pretty much has become nonexistent. By the time a player gets to that level, they’re expected to focus on one position. Kye Stokes from Armwood in Seffner, Florida, is listed as an athlete in just about every recruiting profile online. He’s a receiver on offense, but Notre Dame appears to want him as a safety based on him tagging Chris O’Leary and not Del Alexander in his tweet announcing that the Irish have made him an offer:

With one year to go before making the jump to college, Stokes now has received offers from 28 schools. These include Nebraska, Miami, Indiana, Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, USF, UCF, Syracuse, Virginia, Wake Forest, Duke, Northwestern and Illinois. Whoever lands Stokes will get someone who is ready to play football and do so by running downfield whenever a ball is in the air. Anyone would be lucky to have someone capable of doing that on both offense and defense.

Watch: Notre Dame cornerback commit Jaden Mickey wins 100-meter race

A Notre Dame commit is quite the versatile athlete.

Cornerbacks have to be some of the speediest guys on the football field. A month ago, Notre Dame got a good one in four-star recruit Jaden Mickey. Perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising, but among the ways Mickey stays in shape is by running track for Centennial in Corona, California. It turns out he’s pretty good at that, too, as the Class of 2026 commit won this 100-meter race:

This isn’t something Mickey just recently picked up either. In 2016, he competed for Eastvale Elementary as a sixth-grader in the CNUSD Junior Olympics, during which he took part in the 200, long jump and 4×100 relay. This spring, he will run the 100 and 200 for Centennial.

Most of Notre Dame’s current cornerback corps still will be around when Mickey arrives in South Bend for the 2022 season. He’ll be joining a group that will be incredibly tight-knit by then if it’s not already. Talk about a great opportunity to learn the ropes.

Notre Dame presents offer to receiver recruit Xayvion Bradshaw

Notre Dame could stand to have more options at receiver going forward.

Notre Dame could stand to have more options at receiver going forward. Who knows how differently the 2020 season could have turned out if there was only one elite Irish player there? Del Alexander knows he has a tough task replenishing that position, but that won’t stop him from trying. He hopes he has the opportunity to strike gold after making an offer to Xayvion Bradshaw of Graham in Bluefield, Virginia:

Unlike most other recruits the Irish have offered, Bradshaw has yet to reach double digits in offers. In fact, Notre Dame might be the most prominent school that has expressed real interest in him thus far. Sure, you have schools like Purdue, Arizona State, Virginia, West Virginia and Kansas, but they don’t have anywhere near the history Notre Dame offers. Unless it’s really important for Bradshaw to play close to home, it would be crazy if he didn’t select Notre Dame based strictly on that history and prominence, but stranger things have happened in recruiting.

Notre Dame makes scholarship offer to another 2022 quarterback

With Ian Book out the door, the debate for Notre Dame is whether Brendon Clark or Drew Pyne will be his successor at quarterback in 2021.

With Ian Book out the door, the debate for Notre Dame is whether Brendon Clark or Drew Pyne will be his successor at quarterback in 2021. But what if neither of those guys is the long-term solution at the position?

Tyler Buchner is a big-time recruit but what about the recruiting class of 2022?

Maybe the upcoming season will be a bridge between Book and the next great Irish quarterback. Specifically, Pyne and Clark could be keeping the seat warm for Drew Allar, a pro-style quarterback from Medina, Ohio, who has received an offer from Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees:

Allar now has offers from 22 schools. Just this week, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Illinois and Ole Miss joined the list. He’s also drawn significant interest from programs like Wake Forest, Iowa, USF, Washington, Iowa State, Kentucky, Michigan, Texas A&M, South Carolina, Penn State, Indiana, Michigan State, Pittsburgh and Syracuse.

Related:
Notre Dame’s best football recruit from each state since 2000

Notre Dame’s 2022 Recruiting Class Commitments

Notre Dame scholarship offer tracker for 2022

Prominent college programs always are looking for who might be the next person to represent them at the most important position in sports. Allar will do that somewhere, but we don’t know where exactly yet.

Running Back Recruit Jadarian Price Commits to Notre Dame

It appears Notre Dame might have its heir apparent to Kyren Williams, or at least an option for when the time comes.

It appears Notre Dame might have its heir apparent to Kyren Williams, or at least an option for when the time comes. His name is Jadarian Price, and he hails from Denison, Texas. He made the announcement Sunday, a special day for his mother:

Notre Dame clearly has been on Price’s mind for a while. In a previous interview with BlueandGold.com, he talked about the opportunities he could get with the program and the university:

“The education I can get from Notre Dame is unmatched. I am building great relationships with the coaching staff too. My relationship with running backs coach Lance Taylor has continued to grow.”

Per Rivals, Price was planning to visit the university during the past week, but bad weather prevented him from traveling. Fortunately for the Irish, that didn’t matter. Perhaps what best sold him on Notre Dame was its strong academic reputation, which is a major plus for someone with a 4.1 GPA. Sometimes, the glove simply fits effortlessly.

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Cornerback Recruit Benjamin Morrison Receives Offer From Notre Dame

With Nick McCloud’s career for Notre Dame having wrapped up, the search for the Irish’s next great cornerback is on.

With Nick McCloud’s career for Notre Dame having wrapped up, the search for the Irish’s next great cornerback is on. Thanks to Mike Mickens, the program now has an opportunity to grab someone with potential to make an impact. He’s Benjamin Morrison, and he’s been making waves at Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix. At 6-foot-0 and 172 pounds, he’ll surely have to put on a little weight before going to the next level, but he’s got a year in which to do it, and he’ll be happy with this offer in the meantime:

Notre Dame, which should be hosting crowds the size of the one in the above picture by the time Morrison would arrive, is the 17th school to make him an offer. He’s also shown interest from programs like Iowa State, UCLA, Florida State, Boston College, Michigan, Michigan State, Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State, Nebraska, Oregon State and Washington. Those are a bunch of programs with varying degrees of history, and we hope that he’s got his eye on South Bend.

Notre Dame Extends Offer to Tight End Recruit Eli Raridon

As a former quarterback, Tommy Rees understands the value of a tight end.

As a former quarterback, Tommy Rees understands the value of a tight end. He knows what they can provide, and he knows a good one when he sees it. Such is the case with Eli Raridon, who hails West Des Moines, Iowa, and stars at Valley. At 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds, he fits the profile of a tight end, and both Rees and John McNulty think he could be of use to Notre Dame in the future:

You can see Brady Quinn in that picture, and Quinn is excited about this offer, too:

Indeed, Raridon committing to the Irish would put him on the same path as his father, Scott Raridon, Jr., who was an offensive lineman for Notre Dame in the early 2000s. To keep this family tradition going, the Irish will have to contend with several other schools, especially Iowa. Among the other schools who have offered Raridon are Florida State, Michigan State, West Virginia, Missouri and Kansas State.

Notre Dame Lands Three-Star Defensive End Recruit Aiden Gobaira

Notre Dame’s defensive line just landed a very solid recruit for its future.

Notre Dame’s defensive line just landed a very solid recruit for its future. Weak-side defensive end Aiden Gobaira, weighing in at 6-foot-6 and 235 pounds, has announced his commitment to the Irish. Penn State was the only other major player for the three-star recruit, so it’s not like there was serious competition for him. Still, the Irish will be happy to have the Chantilly, Virginia, native that Mike Elston and Marcus Freeman have high hopes for.

Gobaira has received offers from schools as far back as April, including one from the Irish in May. Per 247Sports, he made an unofficial visit to Notre Dame on Tuesday. Whatever happened during that visit obviously won him over because only a few days later, he knows what his future holds after he completes his prep senior season in the fall. Oh, and his mother is thrilled with his decision, too, which is enough to melt the iciest heart (We’ll forgive the typo):