Tag: Notre Dame recruiting

Notre Dame makes top five for Zach Randolph’s daughter Mackenly

Hope they get her.

Notre Dame is looking forward to an exciting season. Almost all of last season’s Sweet 16 team will be back, and highly touted freshman [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] has been added to the mix.

But that doesn’t mean the future can’t be just as exciting as the present. The Irish have reason to be even more hopeful after Mackenly Randolph, daughter of former NBA All-Star Zach Randolph, listed the Irish as one of her final five choices:

Randolph has a five-star rating and a 96 grade on ESPNW. She made the MaxPreps California All-State Girls Basketball Second Team, and the following was said about her:

“Named to the all-area teams by the Los Angeles Times and the Los Angeles Daily News and also a CIF Southern Section All-Open Division team, Randolph averaged 16.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game.”

The Irish will up against South Carolina, Duke, Louisville and Michigan State for Randolph’s services. That’s some pretty stiff competition, but it’s one the Irish can win. Best of luck to [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] and her staff.

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Notre Dame lands commitment from 2024 forward recruit Garrett Sundra

Nice get.

Notre Dame has been lacking impact players down low for some time now. Sure, there’s been some talent there, but none of it has been good enough to build the lineup around. Might that change with 6-foot-10 power forward [autotag]Garrett Sundra[/autotag]? We soon will get an answer to that question after Sundra committed to the Irish:

Per 247Sports, Sundra is a four-star recruit and the fourth-best player out of Virginia in the 2024 class. Sundra made his official visit to Notre Dame on Aug. 1. In fact, it was the only official visit he made to any school. That was bad news for the others interested in him, including Butler, Providence, Seton Hall, Virginia Tech, Miami, Maryland and Iowa.

[autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] still has a long way to go in building the team he wants. [autotag]Cole Certa[/autotag] is the only other 2024 commit he currently has, and that’s not counting all the inexperience on this coming season’s roster. The Irish eventually will get to where they want to be, but it’s going to require time and patience. Hopefully, everybody understands that.

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Notre Dame commit named Preseason MaxPreps First Team All-American

All eyes will be on him when he comes to the Irish.

[autotag]Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa[/autotag] is getting rave reviews from everywhere. The California-based four-star linebacker, who recently picked Notre Dame over USC and Ohio State, very well could follow in the footsteps of recent Irish linebacker All-Americans like [autotag]Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah[/autotag] and [autotag]Jaylon Smith[/autotag]. Until then, we will see how well he continues to develop at the prep level. MaxPreps thinks that will go well as he was named to its Preseason All-American First Team.

Here’s what MaxPreps has to say about the 2024 commit and his relevance to St. John Bosco in Bellflower:

“Played a huge role on defense for the 2022 MaxPreps National Champs racking up 111 tackles.”

Racking up that total in any season for the Irish would be nice. No Irish player has approached that number since [autotag]Te’von Coney[/autotag] had 116 and 123 tackles respectively in 2017 and 2018. That alone should give Irish fans reason to be excited about his arrival in a year’s time. And the fact that he chose the Irish over two other college football powerhouses makes it all the sweeter.

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Who Needs To Step Up In Fall Camp: Offense

Every fan loves to think about the best players on their team entering a season. That’s quite natural, who wouldn’t? These are the players that are proven winners. They have displayed a propensity over time to excel when it matters most. Deliver in …

Every fan loves to think about the best players on their team entering a season. That’s quite natural, who wouldn’t? These are the players that are proven winners. They have displayed a propensity over time to excel when it matters most. Deliver in the clutch, and make a play when the team needed one most. The more of these players on your squad the better. But What about the other players on the team?

For Notre Dame to reach the playoff this year they are going to need the proven players that we know can be relied on to deliver to do so and also for some newer stars to emerge. Whether it be emergence from an incoming freshman nobody has seen play yet or from an upperclassmen who has much to prove, these kinds of surprises are most welcomed.

Let’s look at 3 offensive players that I believe could emerge this year and take play to the next level.

Notre Dame lands 2024 linebacker recruit Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa

Solid get for the Irish.

Notre Dame just beat out two real blue bloods for the services of 2024 four-star linebacker recruit [autotag]Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa[/autotag]. On July 3, the Bellflower, California native announced that the Irish had made his final cut along with USC and Ohio State. After nearly three weeks of additional waiting, the recruiting efforts of [autotag]Al Washington[/autotag] and [autotag]Max Bullough[/autotag] have paid off. Viliamu-Asa made the announcement on social media:

Here’s how the actual announcement looked from his home:

Viliamu-Asa is the third linebacker commit of the Irish’s 2024 class. The others, [autotag]Teddy Rezac[/autotag] and [autotag]Bodie Kahoun[/autotag], are three-star commits, which makes Vilamu-Asa the biggest get at the position in the 2024 class so far. Greg Biggins of 247Sports had this to say about him in November:

“One of the most versatile linebackers in the country. He’s an inside ‘backer but a rare every down player who can move around and play multiple spots in a defense. He can stuff the run, blitz off the edge and is very smooth in coverage for a 6-foot-3, 230 pound athlete. He was the state’s top prospect as a freshman but tore his ACL in the final game of the season and missed his entire sophomore year. He’s a huge hitter and has a game built for pads but we saw him during 7v7 play lock up receivers and tight ends in coverage. He’s a smart kid as well, very instinctive and plays with a non-stop motor. He’s a tough kid and has a nice edge in his game.”

Here’s hoping that all is on display with the Irish.

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2024 four-star shooting guard recruit lists Notre Dame among top eight

Think he’ll choose the Irish?

Notre Dame will need shooting and lots of it when the time comes for the program to be competitive again. So it surely must have been good news for [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] and his staff when 2024 four-star shooting guard recruit Austin Swartz told Joe Tipton of On3 that Notre Dame is one of eight finalists for his services. Also making the cut are Indiana, Clemson, Miami, Florida State, Virginia Tech, UConn and Georgia.

Swartz, one of the top 2024 recruits in North Carolina, has scheduled official visits to six of the above schools, but Notre Dame is not one of them. In fact, he already has visited Clemson, and every other school is on his official visit list. It’s unknown whether he’ll make any trips to South Bend, so we’re left to speculate just how serious he is about the Irish. Hopefully, their chances aren’t dead before they’ve actually gotten any life.

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Notre Dame makes top four for 2024 four-star power forward recruit

Hope the Irish get him.

So far, only shooting guard [autotag]Cole Certa[/autotag] has committed to Notre Dame’s 2024 recruiting class. That might soon change with four-star power forward and Minneapolis native Jackson McAndrew. Joe Tipton of On3 has learned from McAndrew that he has picked the Irish as one of four finalists for his services along with Wisconsin, Xavier and Creighton. He also had an offer from Illinois, but that option now appears to be off the table.

Previously, when asked to comment about the Irish, McAndrew, widely considered the top 2024 recruit in Minnesota, had this to say:

“I really like what Coach (Micah) Shrewsberry and the rest of the coaching staff are doing with the program. I think they are taking it in a really good direction. The school is also very good and cool. I think that I can be utilized very well with my versatility in the system they play offensively and defensively.”

Scouts mainly like McAndrew’s shooting, and the Irish will need plenty of that once the tide begins to turn for them. Whether or not McAndrew picks the Irish, Shrewsberry will have to find two, preferably three, pure shooters over the next couple of recruiting classes. You simply need those in today’s college basketball, and Shrewsberry surely recognizes that. Why else would the Irish trust him with a new direction?

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Northwestern Hazing Fallout: Fitz Fired, Could Rees Be Hired?

Time for Tommy to come home?

If I was given 100 guesses as to what college football program would face a major scandal just a few weeks before Fall camp opened up, Northwestern wouldn’t be on the list. But here we are. College Football strikes again. You never know what you’ll get or when and from whom.

Regardless of whether you believe all allegations made against the program recently or you think they are exaggerated, one thing everyone can agree on is that this is a PR nightmare for Northwestern. They are already facing battles with Evanston over their $800 million renovation plan and its effects on the city, a cheerleader scandal, this football issue, and now an emerging baseball scandal as well. Things are not going well. Given his recent job change, Jim Phillips must feel like the luckiest man alive.

So what comes next for Northwestern? They are going to have to hire a head coach. This is a tricky dynamic. The University is in a world of trouble right now, but long term, they are still a Big Ten school with lots of money and resources. So who’s a good fit? They may prefer an experienced coach to navigate the present shaky culture out of the abyss. But will a proven elder entity want to take on all of these issues he didn’t cause? Good luck recruiting with the pitch of “We went 1-11 and can no longer push to you the wholesome program narrative Fitz lived on for decades”.

Let’s explore another path Northwestern could choose. Hiring Tommy Rees. Hear me out.

College Football Recruiting: Notre Dame Makes Top Six for Top Receiver

Notre Dame is in need of some good news on the recruiting front. Since this pandemic has taken over and recruiting visits have been halted, Notre Dame hasn’t been able to get a few of their biggest targets for 2021 on campus, leading to their team …

Notre Dame is in need of some good news on the recruiting front. Since this pandemic has taken over and recruiting visits have been halted, Notre Dame hasn’t been able to get a few of their biggest targets for 2021 on campus, leading to their team ranking continuing to fall (11th at last check by 247Sports).

Good news came Saturday though as four-star wideout Donte Thornton of Baltimore listed his top six teams and Notre Dame has a seat at the table.

It’s probably not what you’d guess the final six for a four-star talent from the east coast to look like. Virginia is near to home and Florida State isn’t terribly far off but Notre Dame is the third closest in proximity for Thornton, who lists three Pac 12 schools as well (Arizona State, Oregon, USC).

Notre Dame currently has ten commitments in the 2021 class, although that sounds likely to soon decrease. Lorenzo Styles, Jr., a four-star from Pickerington, Ohio is the lone wide receiver commitment as of now for Notre Dame.

Will Notre Dame ever be able to attract five-star recruits again?

Irish fans have to have this question on their mind.

During my junior year of high school, the math team won the state championship in what some might consider unusual fashion. In the state competition, the team placed first in only one event. But a bunch of second-place finishes put the team over the top. It was a proud moment for the school.

But college football doesn’t allow the same cushion as high school math competitions. You need to finish first in several races to have any real shot at a national championship. Not the least of those races is for five-star recruits. And Notre Dame is far behind the sport’s best in that area.

Irish fans are smarting over five-star defensive tackle recruit Justin Scott picking Ohio State when Notre Dame seemed to be in the running. It wasn’t only that this happened or that Scott fit the profile of many past Irish signees. It was that it was the latest in a long list of five-star recruits to snub the program.

The numbers speak for themselves, and they don’t speak kindly about the Irish. Ohio State and Georgia’s 2024 recruiting classes have four and three five-star commits, respectively. Three more await the Bulldogs in their 2025 class. Going back to the 2014 class, the Irish have had two: [autotag]Michael Mayer[/autotag] and [autotag]Jaylen Sneed[/autotag].

So to recap, two programs that are in college football’s top tier have more five-star commits for 2024 than every Irish recruiting class spanning a decade combined. Florida has equaled that number for 2024. While there are several reasons the Irish haven’t been able to crack that top tier, this one has to be at or near the top of the list.

Taking all of this into consideration, it’s worth questioning when or if the Irish will attract a bunch of college football’s top recruits again. We know they have plenty of three- and four-star recruits, but those only will take you so far if you want to win a national championship. Eventually, you need to either get a regular piece of that five-star pie or develop your own players to be on that level. The Irish don’t have a recent track record of doing either.

Whether the Irish can get to that next level and stay there could depend on getting out of their own way. That means abandoning many of the things that the university seems resistant to. Particularly, will it choose to play ball in the NIL era, and will it relax its stringent academic requirements to some degree? As dirty as it sounds to Notre Dame, it might be the only way to end the national championship drought.

The pressure will be on [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag], [autotag]Pete Bevacqua[/autotag] and the [autotag]Rev. John Jenkins[/autotag] to produce results before too long. They can go about business as usual and hope for the best, or they can follow the rest of college football’s top dogs so the program doesn’t get left behind. The choice sounds easy for us outsiders, but as we know all too well, Notre Dame often has caught up too late or not at all. When it comes to five-star recruiting, it would be better late than never.

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