Tag: Notre Dame recruiting

Notre Dame cornerback target AJ Harris visits campus

Notre Dame just received a visit from a recruit everyone wants.

With school out for the summer, recruits continue to make the rounds for colleges and universities interested in them. The latest to visit Notre Dame is cornerback recruit AJ Harris, who received an offer from the Irish on Feb. 26. Harris, who is going into his junior year at Glenwood School in Phenix City, Alabama, got pretty much the entire inside look at the Irish. Based on this tweet, it’s hard to conclude otherwise:

It’s already been an eventful summer for Harris. Earlier this month, he paid visits to Alabama, Clemson and Georgia, all of which are considered major contenders for him. Ohio State also is considered one of the leading players for him. There’s no doubt Notre Dame has its work cut out as far as trying to bring Harris to South Bend. It’s part of a long list of schools that have given offers to Harris, including Florida State, Boston College, Virginia Tech, Michigan, Kansas State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, Michigan State, Penn State, Maryland, USC, Tennessee, Auburn, Florida, LSU, Oklahoma and Texas.

Notre Dame gives offer to safety recruit Peyton Woodyard

How would you like to see this guy patrolling the Irish’s secondary?

When Kyle Hamilton leaves Notre Dame, he will leave a big gap to fill in the Irish’s secondary. Even if he isn’t around for the distant future, his legacy will be felt, at least in the short term. That’s why new defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman must prepare for that inevitability. To that end, he has presented an offer to Peyton Woodyard, a safety recruit out of St. John Bosco in Bellflower, California:

Woodyard only has completed his freshman season, so his potential time in South Bend wouldn’t overlap with that of Hamilton, who’s about to begin his junior year. Still, he’s getting a taste of what it’s like to play for a school with a rich athletic history, which he is at St. John Bosco with alumni like D.J. Uiagalelei and Josh Rosen. With his school’s reputation and his talent, he’s already gotten offers from programs like Florida State, Alabama, Georgia, USC, Michigan, Arizona State and Penn State. This undoubtedly is an exciting time for him.

Notre Dame gives offer to power forward recruit Jalen Washington

The Irish could use some size in the future.

When Anthony Solomon returned to Mike Brey’s staff, it was fair to wonder how soon he would pay dividends. While we don’t know yet as far as landing recruits, we now know as far as presenting offers to them. Jalen Washington, a power forward going into his senior season at West Side in Gary, Indiana, can add Notre Dame to the list of offers he’s already gotten. He credited both Brey and Solomon for their interest in him:

Washington has received over a dozen offers so far. The schools he’s mostly trending towards are North Carolina, Indiana, Purdue, Michigan State, Stanford and Alabama. He visited the Tar Heels on June 2 and is scheduled to meet with the Cardinal on Saturday. The other schools in the mix are Louisville, Illinois, Iowa, Penn State, Nebraska, Maryland, DePaul and Oklahoma.

The Irish really need some depth with their size, and Washington would fit the bill perfectly.

Notre Dame QB commit Angeli gives thoughts on 2021 starting job debate

Who do you think will win the starting job?

Notre Dame is betting big on quarterback commit Steve Angeli, who will join the Irish for the 2022 season. Their high hopes for him have to be ascended after the performance he’s put on at Rivals camp this week. It’s interesting to watch given that the Irish still aren’t sure who will start at quarterback for them in 2021. Angeli was asked about it at the camp, and here’s what he had to say:

Yeah, it’s not a very exciting answer, but given that he’s mostly on the outside looking in aside from conversations with Tommy Rees, it shouldn’t be a surprise. The truth is the Irish have very viable candidates in Jack Coan, Drew Pyne and Tyler Buchner, and none of them emerged as a lead candidate during the spring practices. It’s possible we won’t get an answer until shortly before the Irish open their season in prime time at Florida State. While you might not want to hear that, it is what it is.

Notre Dame offers receiver recruit Ryan Wingo

The Irish are after a speedy receiver who’s just getting started in high school.

While it would be nice to see Notre Dame improve its receiver situation from last year quickly, improvement often comes to those who wait. Tommy Rees is looking far down the road for his offense, or at least that of the Irish. As strong as the offensive line was during the 2020 season, receiver is among Notre Dame’s biggest areas of need. That’s why Rees has given an offer to Ryan Wingo, a receiver at St. Louis University High School in St. Louis with only his first year of prep football under his belt:

Like many recruits his age, Wingo only has a few offers so far. In addition to Notre Dame, he’s drawn interest from Illinois, Iowa State, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Missouri and UCF. Every program that comes after him will appreciate his speed, especially after he won four gold medals in a recent track meet for 100- and 200-meter events as well as two relay events. He’s only going to get better as he progresses through high school, and that’s a scary thought.

Notre Dame makes offer to defensive end recruit Kennedy McDowell

Another defensive end recruit is offered by Notre Dame.

Earlier this week, Notre Dame made an offer to strong-side defensive end recruit Nigel Smith. Now, the Irish have decided it’s time to continue shoring up that position for the future. Mike Elston had a conversation with Kennedy McDowell of Memorial in Frisco, Texas, and it led to an offer. From the sound of this tweet, it appears McDowell is serious about both the athletic and academic side of his collegiate career:

Only seven programs have made offers to McDowell, so it’s obviously early in the recruiting process for him. At this point, the other schools competing for his services are Vanderbilt, Arizona State, Kansas, FIU, Colorado and SMU.

In addition to playing football, McDowell recently was a state qualifier in the 110-meter hurdles. It’s safe to say that whoever lands him is going to be getting quite an athlete. Opposing offenses are going to have to keep a close eye on him because this is a kid meant to compete at the next level and make big plays to boot.

Notre Dame gives offer to defensive end recruit Nigel Smith

The Irish are after a young recruit to shore up their defensive line.

We’re now at the point where programs start making offers to recruits who have completed their freshman season. Notre Dame now is one of them. The Irish’s latest offer takes them to Melissa, Texas, where they are pursuing strong-side defensive end Nigel Smith:

Over the previous few minutes of making the Notre Dame offer public, Smith also announced he had received offers from North Texas and UTSA. While those programs obviously would keep him closer to home, neither Conference USA school has anything close to the history or reputation of Notre Dame. Of course, it will take more than that to convince Smith to come to South Bend.

Notre Dame already has a pair of strong-side defensive ends coming in for the 2022 season in Tyson Ford and Aiden Gobaira. They’ll also add a weak-side defensive end in Darren Agu. Here’s hoping they will be good mentors for Smith by the time he arrives if that’s indeed what happens.

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Notre Dame gives offer to quarterback recruit Malachi Nelson

Another quarterback target for the Irish.

While Notre Dame tries to figure out its current quarterback situation, it hasn’t stopped trying to plan for the one down the road. It particularly would prefer that its latest quarterback target prevent any discussion about who should play the position during his time in South Bend. That target is Malachi Nelson, a pro-style quarterback from Los Alamitos, California. He received an offer after a discussion with Tommy Rees:

Notre Dame is the 26th school to make an offer to Nelson. However, both Rivals and 247Sports are convinced that Nelson is headed to Oklahoma, so the question is whether the Irish emerged too late in the game to have a legitimate shot at him. Other contenders for Nelson include Florida State, Miami, Florida, Texas, Ohio State, Arizona State, Arizona, NC State, USC, Michigan, Alabama and Penn State. With this analysis from 247Sports’ Greg Biggins, it’s not hard to see why so many programs are after him:

“Nelson has all the physical tools you could want in a next level signal caller. At 6-foot-3, 180 pounds, he has an athletic body with plenty of room to grow pack on good weight. He’s a very fluid athlete in everything he does. He has a smooth, effortless release and the ball jumps out of his hand. He has a downfield arm, is accurate to all three levels of the field and can throw with touch and change speeds. He’s a mature quarterback and already shows a high football IQ in terms of his decision making and how well he processes the position. He’s a plus-athlete for a quarterback as well and shows the ability to extend plays and get out and pick up yards in the running game. He made a big jump this off-season and needs to show he can put it together with the pads on as a sophomore but no quarterback in the class has a higher ceiling right now then Nelson.”

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.