Tag: notre dame football recruiting

Notre Dame football commit named Defensive Player of the Year

A great season from the future Irish defensive lineman

Notre Dame football has one of the best 2025 recruiting class, and one of the those commits is Illinois defensive end [autotag]Joseph Reiff[/autotag] of York High School.

The 6-foot, 4-inch and 245-pounder has the potential to be next in line at the position for the Irish, one that has shown this fall to be extremely deep as they’ve battled injuries all season long. Reiff was recently named as the Dupage County co-Defensive Player of the Year, which also doubles as the Red Grange Player of the Year Award.

Reiff will enter the program with high expectations, as he’s ranked as the No. 428 overall prospect according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings. The defensive end committed to the Irish over a year ago, and shut down his recruitment, which is why his offer list didn’t grow since then.

I’ve already seen Reiff play once this fall, and will again this weekend, as they face off against Naperville Central for a chance to advance to play for a state title.

Notre Dame football commit named Defensive Player of the Year

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Notre Dame is included in 2026 California 4-star wide receiver’s top group

The Irish are a contender for one of the nation’s best prospects

It was quite an exciting Monday for Notre Dame football recruiting, as they flipped two prospects in offensive lineman Cameron Herron and quarterback Blake Hebert.

The additions to the 2025 class shouldn’t overshadow some other Irish recruiting news, as 2026 California wide receiver [autotag]Vance Spafford[/autotag] trimmed his list down to eight schools with Notre Dame squarely in the mix.

As the nation’s No. 97 overall prospect according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings, is a prospect that many schools would love to add to their class. The Irish will have to battle Georgia, Ole Miss, Oregon, Nebraska, Arizona, Washington and TCU for his commitment.

Notre Dame has put themselves in a very good position in that cycle, with two commits already in quarterback Noah Grubbs and wide receiver Dylan Faison. More will eventually join the pair, and the hope is that Spafford is one of those that will be there in the end.

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS – AUGUST 31: Head Coach Marcus Freeman of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish looks on prior to the game against the Texas A&M Aggies Kyle Field on August 31, 2024 in College Station, Texas. (Photo by Jack Gorman/Getty Images)

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Notre Dame to host 4-star 2027 Michigan athlete this weekend

The Irish will welcome in one of Michigan’s best this weekend

While the state of Michigan isn’t necessarily a hotbed recruiting area, Notre Dame football has had some recent success in the “Mitten State.”

The Irish signed one of the states best in 2024, with quarterback CJ Carr, and are looking to rekindle that magic in the 2027 cycle. Detroit Country Day athlete [autotag]Anthony Cartwright[/autotag], who currently does not have a Notre Dame offer, will be making a visit to South Bend this weekend as Stanford comes into town.

While it’s not the juiciest matchup, the 6-foot, 4-inch and 198-pound prospect will still get to see everything that Notre Dame offers to a student-athlete. Ranked as the No. 61 overall prospect in Cartwright’s class according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings, he already holds offers from Alabama, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Michigan and others.

It seems that if everything goes well, that the 2027 star should be returning home with an Irish offer in-hand. Hopefully that is the case and a return trip will be planned in the near future.

Detroit Country Day’s Anthony Cartwright celebrates a defensive stop during a football against Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023.

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One of Notre Dame’s top remaining targets spotted wearing Irish gear at Rivals250 Camp

This could be a preview of good news to come for the Irish

As we have seen multiple times over the last few recruiting classes, Notre Dame football tends to go after players with football bloodlines.

One of those recruits is [autotag]Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng[/autotag], brother of former Irish star linebacker [autotag]Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah[/autotag]. The 6-foot, 1-inch and 205-pound Florida star is seen as of the remaining top priorities for Notre Dame, and made an official visit at the beginning of June.

The nation’s No. 75 overall player and 9th ranked linebacker according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings is currently at the Rivals250 camp, and decided to check in wearing Irish gear. It’s difficult to take much from this, but it has to be a good sign for Notre Dame.

Playing the apparel game while a recruit is very common, but it typically gives a hint as to where they are leaning to. Hopefully Owusu-Boateng isn’t trolling and will eventually commit to Notre Dame.

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Texas 4-star receiver has Notre Dame football in final group ahead of commitment

The Irish could add another receiver to their 2025 recruiting class very soon

With just a few remaining spots left in Notre Dame football’s 2025 recruiting class, the Irish can be picky about who they will accept a commitment from.

One of those players is Texas wide receiver [autotag]Tanook Hines[/autotag], who announced his top six schools along with a decision date of July 8th. Notre Dame is battling Texas, USC, Baylor, Texas A&M and Arizona State for the nation’s No. 351 overall prospect and 50th ranked at his position according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

Hines took his official visit to South Bend just under two weeks ago, and now will ponder who fits best for him until he makes a choice.

The good new for the Irish is that there are two 247Sports Crystal Ball picks for the 6-foot, 1-inch and 185-pound Hines to pick Notre Dame. We will know soon if those predictions end up being correct.

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247Sports: Deuce Knight could take Notre Dame football to the top

That’s the hope for Knight when he arrives in South Bend

It may seem like FightingIrishWire has become a [autotag]Deuce Knight[/autotag] stan account, but that is due to the fact that he’s arguably the most anticipated quarterback prospect that Notre Dame has had in over 10 years.

The Irish have signed multiple elite quarterbacks like Jimmy Clausen, Dayne Crist, Gunner Kiel and Brandon Wimbush, but none of them really lived up to the hype. Knight will have an opportunity to do that, as Andrew Ivins of 247Sports believes that he could “might be the lottery ticket that pushes Notre Dame to the top.”

He noted that Knight “keeps improving every time that we see him and his pro day (at the Elite 11) on Thursday was arguably the most exciting of the bunch as he made a few NFL-caliber throws.”

There was yet another mention of Ole Miss trying to flip him, but the way Knight is recruiting for the Irish, it doesn’t seem like it’s a realistic situation.

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Former Notre Dame WR commit Shaun Terry finds his new home in the SEC

The former Irish commit finds a new home

Back in February when Ohio 2025 wide receiver [autotag]Shaun Terry[/autotag] committed to Notre Dame, it looked like the Irish had found another great prospect.

Unfortunately the 5-foot, 10-inch and 170-pound pass catcher didn’t stick with his verbal pledge and reopened the process at the start of this month. He quickly got new offers and made a few official visits.

One of them was to Missouri, the school that would eventually land his commitment from on Thursday. Notre Dame had others ranked higher on its recruiting board, which most likely pushed Terry out of the class.

The Tigers get a shifty and electric receiving prospect who is ranked as the No. 662 overall prospect according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

At the end of the day, Notre Dame will be fine at the position, as they already have commitments from Elijah Burress, and Jerome Bettis Jr. with other top prospects highly considering joining them.

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One outlet named Notre Dame quarterback commit Deuce Knight as Elite 11 MVP

A great showing from Knight

Although the Elite 11 didn’t name Notre Dame football 2025 quarterback commit [autotag]Deuce Knight[/autotag] its MVP, he still impressed many.

On3 had its own rankings and ultimately had the 6-foot, 5-inch and 205-pound lefty as their top player during the event. Knight did well during the individual portions along with the pro-day and put a cherry on top with his play during the 7-on7 competition.

The sum of the whole was enough for On3 to have him as their best, which shouldn’t come as a surprise after what has been a fantastic summer for Knight. With his current 247Sports Composite Ranking at No. 51 overall, expect a rise in the near future.

Knight could land as a 5-star prospect, but wherever he lands, he’s the top quarterback commit in the Marcus Freeman era.

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Notre Dame football offers Georgia two-way athlete

The Irish offer an under the radar prospect

Notre Dame football has done a great job over the recent recruiting cycles finding diamonds in the rough.

Soon-to-be first round draft pick Joe Alt was a tight end in high school, and was quickly able to make the transition to offensive tackle. He was ranked as the No. 400 prospect in the country according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings, which clearly was a miss on their end, but a massive hit for the Irish.

Another potential diamond is Georgia’s [autotag]Dalen Penson[/autotag], who was offered a scholarship by Notre Dame on Wednesday evening. The 5-foot, 11-inch and 165-pound athlete isn’t currently ranked by any major service.

https://twitter.com/dalenpenson/status/1760459946833936637

That doesn’t mean he can’t be a productive player at the collegiate level, he very well could be. Although the recruiting ranking might not be impressive, the Irish staff has earned the trust on evaluating prospects.

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Analyst’s have different views on Notre Dame QB commit Deuce Knight’s Elite 11 performance

Some liked and some disliked his performance

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and that’s exactly what happened to Notre Dame 2025 football quarterback commit [autotag]Deuce Knight[/autotag] during the Elite 11 competition’s first day of camp.

The 6-foot, 5-inch and 205-pound lefty had a solid performance, but not one that would impress all. 247Sports had Knight ranked as its No. 10 performer, which isn’t exactly what Irish fans wanted to see.

According to a report from Andrew Ivins of 247Sports, it took Knight a bit to warm up, then got hot late during day one. That is most likely the reason that he wasn’t ranked higher following the initial portion of the event.

On3 saw Knight’s performance in much different eyes, as they ranked him as the No. 4 quarterback following day one.

It’s a pretty big different from No. 4 to No. 10 so you can probably split the difference and say Knight was in the middle of the pack. Now that he has his feet wet, hopefully he turns the tide and starts to be viewed closer to the top than the bottom.

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