Tag: Notre Dame recruiting

Notre Dame Football: Three-Star Ramon Henderson Rounds Out Class for Irish

Braden Lenzy’s fastest time ever recorded in the 100 meter dash is 10.82 seconds.  Not at all shabby and quick enough to make him the fastest man almost anytime he steps onto a football field.

That is unless Henderson is there, as Henderson has gone 10.59 seconds in the 100 before.

Notre Dame entered Wednesday’s first National Signing Day knowing they’d likely have at least 17 high school seniors sign their National Letters of Intent and become the newest members of the Fighting Irish football team.

There was some optimism that number could grow slightly higher and it eventually did as early Wednesday afternoon Ramon Henderson signed his NLI and became the final player in Notre Dame’s 2020 recruiting class to sign.

Henderson is listed as an athlete in most places but figures to fit into Notre Dame’s mix in the defensive backfield.

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The Liberty High School product from Bakersfield, California chose Notre Dame over Utah and Oklahoma who were both in pursuit of his services.

Henderson is listed at 6-2 and 183 pounds and is blessed with truly elite speed.

How fast are we talking?

Braden Lenzy’s fastest time ever recorded in the 100 meter dash is 10.82 seconds.  Not at all shabby and quick enough to make him the fastest man almost anytime he steps onto a football field.

That is unless Henderson is there, as Henderson has gone 10.59 seconds in the 100 before.

Henderson was ranked as the 23rd best player in California by Rivals.

Notre Dame Football: Four-Star ILB Jordan Botelho Signs with Irish

Te’o, Gilman, Tagovailoa-Amosa and Toma are only a few of the several names that have appeared and starred on Notre Dame’s roster in recent years.

Now it’s time to add another.

Jordan Botelho.

Notre Dame has created quite a recruiting pipeline to Hawaii over the last decade having several star players from the Aloha State.

Te’o, Gilman, Tagovailoa-Amosa and Toma are only a few of the several names that have appeared and starred on Notre Dame’s roster in recent years.

Now it’s time to add another.

Jordan Botelho.

Remember the name as the top-rated player in Hawaii, a product of St. Louis High School in Honolulu officially signed his letter of intent to join the Fighting Irish on Wednesday.

Botelho is listed at 6-2 and 229 pounds and committed to Notre Dame back in April of this year.

He’s been an absolute star the last two seasons picking up 25 sacks and forcing six fumbles in that time and has been rated as high as the sixth best interior linebacker in this year’s class.

Botelho signed with Notre Dame while being pursued by the likes of Washington, UCLA, Oregon, Cal, Oklahoma and others.

 

Notre Dame Football: Top Rated Long Snapper Alex Peitsch Signs with Irish

Peitsch committed to Notre Dame back in April and figures to be on the field right away replacing the great John Shannon.

Notre Dame may be regarded as “Tight End U” by some but “Long Snapper U” is starting to make a lot of sense for the Catholic university in South Bend.

Last week John Shannon was awarded the inagural Patrick Mannelly Award for the best long-snapper in the nation.  It was also announced that Shannon would be forgoing his final year of eligibility at Notre Dame and instead beginning his career in law-enforcement.

Worries at long snapper for the Fighting Irish?

Not so fast.

Alex Peitsch of St. John’s College High School in our nation’s capital signed his letter of intent Wednesday to play football at Notre Dame.

Peitsch is ranked by 247Sports as the number-one long-snapper in all of the 2020 recruiting class.

Peitsch committed to Notre Dame back in April and figures to be on the field right away replacing the great John Shannon.

 

Notre Dame Football: Three-Star WR Jay Brunelle Signs with Irish

Brunelle is listed by all outlets as a three-star receiver and pulled down 121 receptions for 2229 yards and 29 touchdowns in his final two years of high school.

Notre Dame will need to replace a lot at wide receiver in 2020 as both Chase Claypool and Chris Finke who combined to haul in 94 passes for over 1300 yards and 16 touchdowns are gone.

Signing Jordan Johnson early Wednesday was a huge step in the right direction there, but he wasn’t the only receiver Notre Dame had their eye as Jay Brunelle from Shrewsbury, Massachusetts also signed his NLI.

Brunelle is listed by all outlets as a three-star receiver and pulled down 121 receptions for 2229 yards and 29 touchdowns in his final two years of high school.

Brunelle chose the Irish over West Virginia, UCLA and Michigan while also holding offers from both Harvard and Yale.

Notre Dame Football: Four-Star DE Rylie Mills Signs with Irish

The four-star recruit chose Notre Dame over other midwestern powers Ohio State, Wisconsin, Alabama and LSU among very many others.

 

Lake Forest, Illinois product and 6-5, 275 pound defensive end Rylie Mills signed his National Letter of Intent on Wednesday and is headed to Notre Dame.

The four-star recruit chose Notre Dame over other midwestern powers Ohio State, Wisconsin, Alabama and LSU among very many others.

Mills will enroll early at Notre Dame and will likely not play in more than four games next season in order to preserve a year of eligibility.

He ranks as the ninth best strong-side defensive end per Rivals and is the fourth-rated player in this years class from the state of Illinois.

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Mills attended the same high school as Notre Dame assistant coach Tommy Rees and has trained under former Irish linebacker Kerry Neal for sometime.

Notre Dame Football: Four-Star TE Michael Mayer Signs with Irish

Mayer was the 2019 Kentucky Player of the Year after pulling in 50 receptions for 970 yards and 15 touchdowns and has been described as “can’t miss” but many who have seen him play.

Michael Mayer has been very strong in his commitment to Notre Dame, clarifying again last week that he was all-in on the Fighting Irish even right after Chip Long was relieved of his offensive coordinator duties.

Mayer, a four-star tight end from Covington Catholic in Alexandria, Kentucky makes up one-half of the best tight end tandem of any team in 2020’s recruiting class as he’s joined by Kevin Bauman of New Jersey, also a four-star recruit.

Mayer was the 2019 Kentucky Player of the Year after pulling in 50 receptions for 970 yards and 15 touchdowns and has been described as “can’t miss” but many who have seen him play.

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Mayer chose Notre Dame aka Tight End U over the likes of LSU, Alabama, Georgia, Michigan and Ohio State.

You can see Mayer take part in the annual All-American Bowl in San Antonio on January 4.

Notre Dame Football: Four-Star QB Drew Pyne Signs with Irish

In case you forgot because you’ve been swept up in Buchner-mania or whatever you’d like to call it – here’s a quick reminder:

Drew Pyne is really good at football.

Way back in mid-April of 2018 quarterback Drew Pyne of New Canaan, Connecticut made his commitment to Notre Dame as he gave his verbal commitment.

Not because of anything he did or failed to but more because of the insane numbers that 2021 Notre Dame commit Tyler Buchner put up this season in Southern California, it seems like Pyne has essentially been forgotten about by parts of the Notre Dame fanbase.

In case you forgot because you’ve been swept up in Buchner-mania or whatever you’d like to call it – here’s a quick reminder:

Drew Pyne is really good at football.

In his senior year Pyne threw for over 2000 yards and surpassed the 9000 passing yards for his high school career.  He also threw 54 touchdown passes to just 13 interceptions over the last two seasons as his New Canaan squad finished his senior year with a 9-3 record.

The 6-0, 194 pound Pyne chose Notre Dame over offers from Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, LSU, Michigan, Oklahoma, Penn State and plenty of others.

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247Sports ranks Pyne as the seventh best pro-style quarterback in the 2020 recruiting class.

Notre Dame Football: Three Star WR Xavier Watts Signs with Irish

Notre Dame beat out in-state Nebraska who Notre Dame coaches at one point thought were getting a commitment from Watts. 

 

Notre Dame went to the heartland and took a three-star wide reciever right out of Nebraska, Iowa and Iowa State’s backyard when they landed Xavier Watts on National Signing Day.

Watts checks in as the second rated prospect this year from the state of Nebraska, but its worth noting that he’s ranked 75th among receivers nationally, per 247Sports.

The 6-1 Watts had 1072 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns in 11 games as a high school senior at Burke High School in Omaha, Nebraska.  Notre Dame beat out in-state Nebraska who Notre Dame coaches at one point thought were getting a commitment from Watts.

Watts will enroll at Notre Dame in January and be on campus for spring practice.

Notre Dame Football: Three-Star CB Clarence Lewis Signs with Irish

Lewis was offered a scholarship by Notre Dame on in May and gave his verbal commitment in June after making his first official visit to campus.

A somewhat under the radar prospect in Clarence Lewis signed his National Letter of Intent with Notre Dame, adding to their impressive haul in the 2020 recruiting class.

A Middletown, New Jersey (Mater Dei High School) product, Lewis ranks as the 17th best prospect in the state of New Jersey this year.

Lewis was offered a scholarship by Notre Dame on in May and gave his verbal commitment in June after making his first official visit to campus.

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He committed quickly after receiving an offer but also had offers from Minnesota, Nebraska, Purdue, Kentucky and Virginia.

Notre Dame Football: Four-Star OT Tosh Baker Signs with Irish

The monsterous Baker commited to Brian Kelly’s Fighting Irish squad back in May and is ranked by 247Sports as the 67th best prospect in the country and third best offensive tackle in the entire class.

Longtime Notre Dame commit Tosh Baker was among the future Fighting Irish that made things official by signing his National Letter of Intent this morninig.

The monsterous Baker commited to Brian Kelly’s Fighting Irish squad back in May and is ranked by 247Sports as the 67th best prospect in the country and third best offensive tackle in the entire class.

Baker chose Notre Dame while having offers from many of the biggest programs in college football including Alabama, Auburn, Miami, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oregon, Texas, USC and plenty of others.

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The Scottsdale, Arizona product checks in at 6-8, 275 pounds.  You can catch Baker in action on January 4 when he will participate in the annual All-American Bowl in San Antonio.