Notre Dame 2024 signee named Naismith Second Team All-American

Another top talent on the way to Notre Dame is honored.

Hannah Hidalgo has set a high bar for future Notre Dame freshmen. That doesn’t mean future first-year players won’t try to top her though. One player who could do it during the 2024-25 season is [autotag]Kate Koval[/autotag].

Koval is a five-star player at Long Island Lutheran in Brookeville, New York who signed with the Irish in December. Now, she’s been named to the Naismith Trophy Girls’ High School All America Second Team.

Hidalgo made the Second Team in 2023, and [autotag]Emma Risch[/autotag] was an honorable mention. [autotag]KK Bransford[/autotag] was a Third Team honoree in 2022 and an honorable mention in 2021. [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] made the Third Team in 2020, and [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] and [autotag]Kylee Watson[/autotag] were senior honorable mentions.

It’s evidence that even in the post-[autotag]Muffet McGraw[/autotag] era, Notre Dame continues to attract top talent for women’s basketball, and there’s no reason to think that will stop anytime soon. Even so, a strong postseason showing would do wonders to show just how attractive the program still is.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Notre Dame recruiting: 3-star WR Shaun Terry commits to Fighting Irish

Shaun Terry committed to Notre Dame this weekend. The three-star receiver had a near equal amount of receptions and carries last season.

It’s still early in the process, but Notre Dame football’s No. 1-ranked recruiting unit in the class of 2025 just got stronger.

The Fighting Irish secured the commitment of three-star wide receiver Shaun Terry on Saturday. Ranked the No. 58 WR in the nation, the 5-foot-10, 170-pound player out of Ohio reposted a graphic with his announcement the day after news broke on 247Sports.

According to the recruiting outlet, receivers coach Mike Brown and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock prioritized Terry’s recruitment. One staffer told 247Sports that Terry has “the most electric tape this cycle” with what the program confirmed was 4.5 40-second speed. The receiver visited Notre Dame four weeks ago, according to On3, and decided he didn’t need to continue his recruitment into his senior season.

In his junior season at Ironton High School (Ohio), Terry had 27 receptions for 525 yards and nine touchdowns to go with 391 rushing yards on 28 carries with five more touchdowns. A two-sport athlete who has been on the varsity boys basketball team both of the last two seasons, Terry is averaging 13.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game this year, according to MaxPreps.

Terry had 27 offers, including from Auburn, Iowa, Michigan, Penn State and USC.

With the commitment, Notre Dame increases its nation-high number of recruits to 16, well over the next-best of 10 of Clemson, Oklahoma and Penn State. The Fighting Irish class consists of nine four-star and seven three-star players.

Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan Legacy? Depends Who You Ask

What is John Harbaugh’s legacy at Michigan?

What a long and winding road it has been for current Chargers and former Michigan HC Jim Harbaugh. From the early struggles at the Wolverine helm and continuous battles with Big Ten and NCAA leadership, Harbaugh leaves the college ranks as the champion. For now, anyway.

How will he be remembered? To the Michigan faithful, he exits as a martyr standing for all that is right and just with the world of college football. The victim of a witch hunts out to nail one of the country’s most recognized programs for no apparent reason. To others, he will be viewed as a cheater who pulled a “Carroll” and took off to the NFL before sanctions could hit.

Let’s examine each side of this issue to gain a clearer understanding of the vast differences in how this man is viewed and why.

 

Elizabeth Leachman, Drew Griffith win 2023 Foot Locker Cross Country Championships

Sophomore Elizabeth Leachman and Notre Dame commit Drew Griffith took home the gold at the 2023. Foot Locker Cross Country Championships

On Saturday, the 2023 Foot Locker Cross Country champions won their races with a similar tactic: Boerne Champion High School (San Antonio, Texas) sophomore Elizabeth Leachman and Butler (Pa.) High School senior Drew Griffith watched a leader jump ahead, waited for them to tire, and then made their move to the finish line, where they crossed the finish line in first place.

Leachman, just the seventh sophomore to win this race and first since 2018, finished in 16:50.7, while Griffith finished in 15:06.9.

In the first race of the day, Leachman used the disappointment from her race the week before to plan her strategy. On Dec. 2, she finished 15th in the Nike Cross Country Nationals in Portland after starting fast but wearing down over the final 1,000 meters. She focused on that experience as she saw two dozen girls pull ahead of her on Saturday at the start of the race.

Stay patient. Keep pace. Don’t go on a surge that’ll wear her out later.

It didn’t take long before she overtook the majority of the girls, and around the one-mile mark, she was behind only Michigan State commit Rachel Forsyth, who finished her first mile in 5:00.

“I tried to focus on not doing too many hard surges because sometimes it’s really hard for me to recover from those. So I let myself just slowly creep up to her,” Leachman said. “When she made those surges to try to pass me back, I just let her do it until she was tired enough out that I could kind of go and take it.”

The strategy paid off, as Leachman crossed the finish line without a competitor in sight. She finished 13.8 seconds ahead of the second-place Allie Zealand and 17.6 seconds ahead of Forsyth.

It was a remarkable finish, not only because of Leachman’s age, but because just a year ago, she was dealing with hip and hamstring issues, including tendonitis and bursitis. With cross-training activities like elliptical machines and aqua-jogs, as well as joining her school swim team and a club swim team, she regained form in a blazing-fast period of time.

She ran with support from her friends and family and wrote Jeremiah 29:11 on her arm to remind her of the plan set before her.

“Having them behind me helps me know that I’m not defined by my running, but it also gives me the power and the ability to go run for a greater purpose,” Leachman said.

While Leachman won as a sophomore, boys champion Griffith didn’t start competing in high school cross country until he was a sophomore.

He was the top runner on the seventh grade team in junior high, but a growth spurt in eighth grade caused knee pains that forced him off the track until his sophomore year. Nevertheless, after swimming competitively for a decade, he had the aerobic fitness to jump right back in.

Griffith needed all that strength this year as a group of runners worked to catch up to leader Ty Steorts in the second half of the race. On the final hill, a group of five boys clustered with the chance for a single runner to pull away.

“I just saw the guys kind of start to stutter up the top of the hill. That was when I was like, ‘Alright, these guys are fading, I’m ready to make my move,’” Griffith said. “I just knew that all these guys were hurting as much as I am. On the hill, I knew maybe I’m feeling a little bit better than these guys, and it was time to go.” 

Griffith felt himself cramping but surged forward, guiding himself with the experience on the hill he gained last year when he competed in this championship race as a junior.

He pulled ahead of the group alongside Berkley Nance, who challenged Griffith as the finish line approached. A little more than 500 meters out, Nance fell back, and Griffith pulled ahead, beating second-place finisher Ryan Pajak by 5.2 seconds and Tamrat Gavenas by 9.7 seconds. Nance finished fourth and Steorts sixth, sandwiching fifth-place finisher Brayden Marshall.

Griffith is committed to run at Notre Dame. He credited the coach and the team for creating an environment that felt like home when he visited.

Until then, he has a few more months to finish high school as the Foot Locker Boys National Champion.

“I’m super pumped to come here and perform at the highest stage, and to be able to come away with the win is just the greatest feeling ever,” Griffith said.

Notre Dame receiver commit makes all-area team…as defensive back

Wait, what?

As Notre Dame continues to lose receivers to the transfer portal, the spotlight figures to shine brighter on incoming receiver [autotag]Cam Williams[/autotag]. The four-star 2024 Irish commit won’t play in the upcoming bowl game, but he’s enrolling early at the university. The obvious intent is to become assimilated to the receiving corps as quickly as possible.

Too bad not everyone sees Williams as a receiver, at least when it comes to selecting all-area teams. The Chicago Sun-Times came out with its annual all-area team, and Williams was an easy choice. But in a baffling decision, he made the team as a defensive back.

To the Sun-Times’ credit, Williams, like many high school football players, played both ways at Glenbard South in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, and he indeed was a defensive back when his team didn’t have the ball. But the Irish didn’t recruit Williams, the No. 2 2024 recruit in Illinois according to 247Sports, for his defense.

It would be easy to say that those who cover high school football for the Sun-Times didn’t actually watch Williams’ games, but that seems too simplistic. More likely is that they didn’t want to leave certain other receivers off the team but still wanted to find a place for Williams. Whatever the reason, it’s unfair to be misleading about Williams like this.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Notre Dame’s Quarterback Conundrum Must Be Solved

Solving Notre Dame’s quarterback conundrum

If you are a football fan to any degree, you know the following statement to be true. Quarterback is the single most important position in the sport. Coincidentally, this position has been a frustration for Notre Dame fans for well over a decade.

Sure, there have been some standouts. [autotag]Deshone Kizer[/autotag] comes to mind, [autotag]Ian Book[/autotag] in recent vintage as well in terms of quarterbacks who made it to the NFL after their Notre Dame careers ended. But even when including these players, the Irish haven’t had a signal caller they win their biggest games because of. Not with, but because of.

This needs to change for Notre Dame moving forward and with the rumor mill ablaze regarding quarterback recruits and the Irish, let’s take a look at five things to consider about the current quarterback dynamic.

Notre Dame lands commitment from 2025 Illinois defender recruit

Like this get for the Irish?

Elmhurst, Illinois is starting to become a hotbed for 2025 Notre Dame defensive commits. Earlier this year, the Irish received a commitment from defense end recruit [autotag]Joseph Reiff[/autotag] from York. Now, IC Catholic Prep in the same town has a commit for the same recruiting class in edge rusher [autotag]Dom Hulak[/autotag], who announced his decision Friday.

Like Reiff, Hulak was recruited by [autotag]Al Golden[/autotag] and [autotag]Al Washington[/autotag]. They beat out offers from many other schools, all of which were either in or near the Midwest. They included Louisville, Purdue, Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa.

According to 247Sports, Hulak is ranked eighth on the list of 2025 Illinois recruits. Reiff is right behind him at ninth.

Hulak is the eighth commit in Notre Dame’s 2025 class, which ranks third on 247Sports behind Georgia and Alabama. The Irish are the highest-ranked program on the list without a five-star recruit. Fortunately, it’s early enough that that still can change.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Notre Dame offers four-star 2025 North Carolina recruit

Hope he picks the Irish.

As of this moment, Notre Dame does not have any commits for its 2025 class. While that seems like a long way off, that doesn’t mean [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] and his staff aren’t looking that far ahead.

To that end, Jackson Keith, a four-star small forward recruit and the third-ranked 2025 recruit from North Carolina according to 247Sports, has received an offer from the Irish. Keith himself announced the news on social media:

As one can see by this tweet, Shrewsberry had some assistance in recruiting Keith from associate head coach [autotag]Kyle Getter[/autotag]. Keith has gotten numerous offers from Division I programs over the past 15 months. Among them are Wake Forest, NC State, Virginia, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Xavier, Villanova, Georgetown, Illinois, Texas A&M and Tennessee.

Keith most definitely is going to be playing college basketball for a very prominent program. Hopefully, he eventually decides that the Irish are the way to go.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

How Notre Dame broke USC

You really just hate to see it.

Last Saturday’s college football slate was loaded with intriguing matchups. With Notre Dame on bye, fans were able to soak in a wonderfully entertaining slate of games stress-free. This was a well-deserved break for everyone.

Of all the action that occurred, Southern Cal losing to Utah’s backup quarterback and a last-second field goal had to be the highlight for Notre Dame fans eating cheeseburgers all weekend.

Just a couple of short weeks ago [autotag]Caleb Williams[/autotag] was in the hunt to repeat as the Heisman winner and USC, while flawed, were still undefeated and feeling themselves, in true LA fashion.

Then Notre Dame happened.

My how the tone inside and outside the Trojan program has changed quickly. Let’s examine the latest downfall of Troy more closely.