Tag: Micah Gilbert

ESPN: Receiver is Notre Dame’s biggest question mark

Hope the Irish can make strides in that this season.

No matter how good a college football team is, there always is a weakness the opposition looks to exploit. Notre Dame is no exception.

ESPN has determined what it believes to be the biggest question mark for each team in its post-spring Top 25. Notre Dame was fifth on that list, and David Hale is the writer who listed receiver as the most pressing issue for the Irish. He elaborated this way:

“There’s room for optimism with this receivers corps, which includes the addition of transfers [autotag]Beaux Collins[/autotag] (Clemson) and [autotag]Kris Mitchell[/autotag] (FIU), along with holdovers [autotag]Jordan Faison[/autotag], [autotag]Jaden Greathouse[/autotag] and [autotag]Jayden Thomas[/autotag]. But last year’s leading wideouts, Chris Tyree and Rico Flores Jr., both transferred, and it was a unit that struggled often even with them. No wide receiver caught more than 27 passes in 2022 or 2023. Notre Dame hasn’t had a 1,000-yard receiver since [autotag]Chase Claypool[/autotag] in 2019.

With [autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag]’s legs, a big O-line and a talented backfield (not to mention a burgeoning star in tight end [autotag]Mitchell Evans[/autotag]), there’s not a ton of pressure on the receivers to put up earth-shattering numbers, but genuine progress will be critical to an Irish offense that lost three games last season – all scoring 23 points or less. In those three games, the wide receivers combined for just two touchdown grabs and none had more than four catches in any one game.”

It’s a fair assessment, and the Irish have taken steps to address receive with five freshman receivers new to the program in 2024, including [autotag]Cam Williams[/autotag] and [autotag]Micah Gilbert[/autotag]. Results might not happen right away, but at least the Irish were aware of this Achilles’ heel with their offense. It will be a fun group to watch develop.

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Notre Dame receiver target Micah Gilbert announces commitment date

Here’s hoping the crystal ball isn’t lying.

[autotag]Cam Williams[/autotag] is one of the biggest receiver recruits Notre Dame has landed in recent years. But so far, he’s the Irish’s only pure receiver commit in the the 2024 recruiting class. That might change next week as receiver target Micah Gilbert has announced May 2 as the day he will make his college decision. The announcement will take place live on the 247Sports YouTube channel.

All signs point to Gilbert a Charlotte, North Carolina native, picking Notre Dame after he was recruited by [autotag]Gerad Parker[/autotag] and [autotag]Chansi Stuckey[/autotag]. Duke and North Carolina figure to be the biggest threat to the Irish, though that also could be because he’s from Charlotte. The other schools in the mix for the four-star recruit are South Carolina, Michigan, Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech.

Gilbert would be a perfect complimentary piece to Williams, and here’s hoping he feels the same way. We all will find out the answer to that question really soon.

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Watch: Micah Gilbert scores again in Notre Dame’s Blue and Gold game

The freshman is showing out

It’s time to get the hype train going for true freshman wide receiver [autotag]Micah Gilbert[/autotag].

For the second time during Notre Dame football’s Blue and Gold game, the North Carolina native found the end zone. It was a simple go-route, but Gilbert showed his speed to get past the cornerback and race beyond the safety for the score.

The different between the first and second score was who threw him the ball. The first touchdown was from Kenny Minchey and the next one was from fellow freshman CJ Carr. We could be seeing a whole lot of the connections from either of these quarterbacks and Gilbert in the near future.

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Watch: Kenny Minchey finds Micah Gilbert for tying score in Notre Dame spring game

We could get used to Minchey to Gilbert

You have to give some credit to Notre Dame quarterback [autotag]Kenny Minchey[/autotag] for not letting an early interception deter the day.

It would have been very easy for him to turtle up and just go through the motions following an ill-advised throw in the first half. Minchey started to find his groove following the bad pass, and he make one of those highlight reel passes you love to see.

The second-year player found early enrolling true freshman wide receiver [autotag]Micah Gilbert[/autotag] along the right side on a beautiful throw over his right shoulder for a score. The impressive throw tied the game at 14 points midway through the third.

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Notre Dame football’s social media page hypes up freshman receiver

Can he crack the rotation this fall?

One of the biggest issues for the Notre Dame offense over the last few years has been the lack of a big-play threat at wide receiver.

The Irish have had some solid players at the position, but haven’t really had a game-breaker. That might be changing in the near future as the Notre Dame football official social media handle highlighted true freshman [autotag]Micah Gilbert[/autotag].

The 6-foot, 2-inch and 205-pound North Carolina native arrived on campus with plenty of fanfare, as he was ranked as the No. 244 overall prospect and 41st receiver in the country according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

Notre Dame did a great job working the transfer portal to upgrade the room, but those additions are mainly stop-gaps, whereas Gilbert is here for the long haul.

Expect big things from Gilbert over the course of his Notre Dame career.

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Notre Dame 2024 commits share their ‘Think Big’ videos and graphics

These are all excellent #ThinkBig

It has been a pretty big day for [autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag] and their social media team.

Not only was the Irish’s green jerseys unveiled on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, but multiple 2024 commitments shared videos and graphics with the hashtag of ThinkBig, the slogan of their class.

Was is unique about this campaign is that none of the videos shared were the same, each of the individually crafted for each commitment. It’s a job well done by the Notre Dame social media staff, as they have been extremely busy the past few weeks getting all of this prepared to roll out at the same time.

Take a look below at some of the videos and graphics shared by the Irish verbal commitments.

Notre Dame makes top 7 for four-star wide receiver

How strong are Notre Dame’s chances here?

Notre Dame has about as solid of base that they could hope for in wide receiver recruiting for 2024 with borderline five-star prospect Cam Williams of Glenbard South (Illinois) already committed.  The Irish are now also in the top-seven for another prized receiving target.

Micah Gilbert of Charlotte Christian (North Carolina) announced his top-seven schools over the weekend and among them was Notre Dame.  Gilbert is a four-star prospect that holds over 20 offers.  Joining Notre Dame in that list of seven schools were Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina, Duke, Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh.

Gilbert is listed at 6-3, 203-pounds and is the cousin of former University of Pittsburgh and New York Jets star, Darrelle Revis.

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Which 3 wide receivers Notre Dame should target with a spot open in 2024 class

Who should the Irish target at receiver in 2024 with a spot open?

Unfortunately for [autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag], 4-star wide receiver Isaih Canion decommitted on Saturday.

The Irish aren’t in a terrible position, they still have commitments from [autotag]Cam Williams[/autotag] and [autotag]Micah Gilbert[/autotag] with athletes [autotag]Teddy Rezac[/autotag] and [autotag]Brauntae Johnson[/autotag] potentially getting reps at the position as well.

With Canion leaving the class, there are still 20 current commits so it would be a good idea to add another receiver to replace him.

The Irish didn’t have any uncommitted wide receivers make an official visits during the spring period, so that means they will bring in potential matches during a Saturday in South Bend. Here are my top three targets the Irish should turn to with an open scholarship.

2024 receiver Isiah Canion de-commits from Notre Dame

This is unfortunate.

Much has been made about the receivers in Notre Dame’s 2024 recruiting class. [autotag]Cam Williams[/autotag] and [autotag]Micah Gilbert[/autotag] both figure to be important pieces in the Irish’s offense starting next year. However, they will have to move forward without fellow 2024 receiver Isiah Canion. Two months after picking Notre Dame, Canion has announced his de-commitment from the program:

Canion was the second 2024 receiver to commit to the Irish after Williams, who did so several months earlier. He was a four-star recruit on 247Sports at the time of his commitment, but he has since been dropped to three-star status. In a similar vein, Williams briefly rose to five-star status before being reverted to four stars. Gilbert also has four stars to his name.

According to Canion’s 247Sports profile, Georgia Tech appears to be the leading candidate to land him. That’s not a surprise considering Canion is from Warner Robins, Georgia. The Irish and Yellow Jackets are scheduled to face each other twice during Canion’s college career, so that definitely would add some intrigue if he does decide to head to Atlanta.

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Friday Night Notes: Notre Dame’s dominance, Dylan Raiola update and more

Reviewing Notre Dame’s hot surge on the recruiting trail, where Dylan Raiola is now trending and how Texas is trying to catch up in the 2024 cycle.

USA TODAY High School Sports‘ Friday Night Notes is a weekly high school recruiting recap that looks at the latest news from around the country—from the Class of 2023 to ’24 and beyond.

Last week we opened Friday Night Notes with a list of five college programs that stood out in the recruiting game. Michigan was on top, with honorable mentions for LSU, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Notre Dame. One of them stood head and shoulders above the competition this week, though.

Specifically, the Fighting Irish have dominated the 2024 recruiting cycle over the last eight days by picking up the following four recruits.

[Bob Self/Florida Times-Union]
Warner Robbins (Ga.) 4-star WR Isiah Canion (April 27)

First, Notre Dame won out over 15 other schools for Canion’s commitment. According to the composite rankings, he’s currently No. 29 at his position and No. 28 overall in the ultra-competitive state of Georgia.

Charlotte Christian (NC) 4-star EDGE Bryce Young (April 29)

Two days later, the Irish gave a big boost to their defensive line with Bryce Young – no relation to the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. Young is already an NFL-sized lineman at 6-foot-6, 245 pounds.

Chandler (Ariz.): 3-star S Kennedy Urlacher (May 1)

On Monday, Notre Dame added even more namepower, picking up a commitment from Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher’s son Kennedy. He turned down offers from 19 other schools.

Charlotte Christian (NC): 4-star WR Micah Gilbert (May 2)

Last but not least, they added another four-star receiver on Tuesday with Young’s teammate Gilbert, who’s the fifth-ranked player in North Carolina. He says his choice was about the pedigree:

“Notre Dame has that pedigree… I love what they have done in the past. They have a great reputation on and off the field, and the visit pushed them over the top. Everywhere I went, I had my list of requirements. And Notre Dame had everything I was looking for…”

Thanks to this influx of talent, the Fighting Irish class of 2024 has risen to No. 4 in the national rankings.

For more stories about Notre Dame football, check out Fighting Irish Wire.