Tag: rico flores

Notre Dame football: Former starting receiver enters transfer portal

Just a day before the annual spring game, Notre Dame wide receiver Lorenzo Styles is entering the transfer portal.

One of Notre Dame’s more prized wide receiver recruits in recent years is entering the transfer portal.  Rising junior [autotag]Lorenzo Styles[/autotag], who was rated as a four-star prospect in the 2021 recruiting class, threw his name in the transfer ring one day before the annual Blue-Gold spring game for Notre Dame.

It’s been a bit of a mixed bag for Styles.  Towards the end of his freshman season it appeared he was going to be a major part of the future for Notre Dame at wide receiver.  His sophomore campaign this past season didn’t see the progress most had hoped for.  Styles caught 30 passes for 340 yards and one touchdown in 2022.  His freshman year saw him haul in 24 receptions for more yards (344) and a score as well.

Last week Styles tried his hand at corner back, something Marcus Freeman discussed.  With the young wide receivers like [autotag]Tobias Merriweather[/autotag], [autotag]Rico Flores[/autotag], and [autotag]Jaden Greathouse[/autotag] garnering so much attention this spring, it’s easy to assume that he was being surpassed on the depth chart.

Styles chose Notre Dame over offers from nearly 20 schools including Auburn, Florida, Michigan, and Ohio State (where his younger brother now plays).

Assuming Styles doesn’t exit the portal and return to Notre Dame, his career with the Irish will conclude with him having 58 career touches for 770-yards, and two touchdowns in 22 games.

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This outlet names one Notre Dame assistant who had an immediate recruiting impact

The Irish found a good one

Recruiting is the lifeblood of any college program, and [autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag] head coach [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] knows that. When he assembled his staff, not only was he looking for great coaches, but he also wanted great recruiters.

He found one in wide receivers coach [autotag]Chansi Stuckey[/autotag]. The former Clemson and NFL receiver has made a seamless transition into the coaching world. Stuckey is responsible for the Irish 2023 receiver haul that included [autotag]Braylon James[/autotag], [autotag]Jaden Greathouse[/autotag], [autotag]Rico Flores[/autotag] and [autotag]Kaleb Smith[/autotag]. He is off to a great start in the 2024 class with a commitment from [autotag]Cam Williams[/autotag].

This effort has caught the eye of many, including On3, which named Stuckey one of their assistant coaches who made an immediate impact on the recruiting trail.

Freeman knows he has a good one, and the expectation is Stuckey will continue to recruit well. The next step in his evolution is getting his position group to play at a higher level, which hopefully starts to show this spring and leading into the fall.

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Meet Notre Dame’s Now Complete 2023 Recruiting Class

Meet Notre Dame’s 26 current commitments in what is a top-five class nationally.

After a whirlwind couple of years the 2023 recruiting class has officially been completed at Notre Dame.  What started out tremendously hit a few snags along the way.  It closed with one of the strangest signing day stories you’ll ever see when Peyton Bowen bailed on Notre Dame for Oregon, only to change his mind and bail on Oregon for Oklahoma just a day later.

In all, Notre Dame wound up with 24 signed commitments after the second signing period in February.  It didn’t finish in the top couple of spots nationally like we had hoped after it’s tremendous start but will continue to add to the overall talent for Notre Dame.

Here are the 24 newest members of the Notre Dame football team:

Where each 2023 Notre Dame signee landed on ESPN’s final recruiting class update

The Irish class is loaded with talent

The first full class for [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] should be viewed at as a booming success for [autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag] football. Not only did the Irish fill holes but they created a lot of depth across every position group. It was extremely impressive for the first-time head coach.

Today, ESPN released their final update to the 2023 recruiting cycle and there was plenty of Irish signees that were named on their list. Even though there weren’t any players ranked inside the top 50, Notre Dame players were still all around the list.

Find out below which Fighting Irish signees made ESPN’s final top 300 list.

Notre Dame misses out on 2023 Illinois wide receiver who elects to stay home

The Irish hat was left on the table

The Irish had their hat on the table for Illinois wide receiver [autotag]Malik Elzy[/autotag] at the [autotag]All-American Bowl[/autotag] but it really didn’t seem like [autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag] was a contender. Having know Elzy since his freshman year, I knew he was going to be a big-time threat.

At one point, Elzy was committed to [autotag]Cincinatti[/autotag], but when [autotag]Luke Fickell[/autotag] left to take the [autotag]Wisconsin[/autotag] job, the six-foot-two-inch and 205-pound receiver opened things up again. During the All-American game, Elzy made his decision, selecting Illinois and staying close to home.

This really doesn’t hurt the Irish, as they signed [autotag]Braylon James[/autotag], [autotag]Jaden Greathouse[/autotag], [autotag]Rico Flores[/autotag], and [autotag]Kaleb Smith[/autotag]. [autotag]Brandyn Hillman[/autotag] could end up playing the position as well.

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Watch: Highlight of Notre Dame signees at All-American Bowl

Plenty of future Irish stars in Texas this week

The Irish are very well represented at this years [autotag]All-American Bowl[/autotag]. In total there are nine [autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag] signees that were invited to the game but for three of them (offensive lineman [autotag]Charles Jagusah[/autotag], quarterback [autotag]Kenny Minchey[/autotag] and defensive end [autotag]Boubacar Traore[/autotag]) are out with injuries.

The majority of the healthy future Irish players are in San Antonio already but wide receiver [autotag]Rico Flores[/autotag] won’t arrive until tomorrow. There are still more than a few highlights that were shared on twitter of the soon-to-be Irish freshman. Check out the clips below of Notre Dame’s next stars.

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Signing Day Superlatives: Which Notre Dame commits will have major impacts

This Irish class is loaded with talent

It wasn’t how [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] envisioned his first full recruiting class to end as the loss of [autotag]Peyton Bowen[/autotag] and [autotag]Jayden Limar[/autotag] to Oregon put a bit of a damper on what should be viewed as a very impressive initial group.

The 2023 recruiting cycle will always be remembers as Freeman’s first, a collection of 24 players who can make a very big impact in the future for the program. There will be more than a few stars from this class and since they are now officially member of the [autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag] program, we can not dream of what they will accomplish on the field.

Here is my best guess as which players will have major contributions for the Irish in the years to come.

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Notre Dame Football 2023 early signing day tracker

This class didn’t waste any time getting their signatures to South Bend

It is finally upon us, the hard work the Irish football staff has put in can finally but a “bow” on the 2023 recruiting cycle. Yes, there is still another point where recruits can sign, but Marcus Freeman and his staff have already maxed out the class with verbals and if everyone signs, they will be one over the normal allotment of 25 players.

A few of the verbals didn’t waste any time faxing their information over to South Bend but they should keep coming in as the day proceeds. Find out below which Irish commitments have made their Notre Dame pledges complete. (This list will be updated as the day goes on so make sure to return.)

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Notre Dame recruiting update: Smith decommits from Texas Tech

The stars at night, are big and bright…

Yesterday Mike Chen updated you here at Fighting Irish Wire that 2023 wide receiver target [autotag]Kaleb Smith[/autotag] was trending towards picking Notre Dame.  Smith committed to Texas Tech in early February but announced a change of heart officially on Friday.

Smith took to Twitter to announce a change of plans:

“First off, I would like to thank Texas Tech University and Coach Mcguire for giving me an opportunity to continue playing the game I love at the next level and in an amazing program,” Smith wrote on Twitter. The family and culture out in Lubbock is crazy and that’s why I’ve been committed since February.. but the Lord has presented me with more opportunities to be great and I need to explore those without a doubt.

… After a lot of thought and talks with God,, I will be decommitting from Texas Tech University and making my recruitment 100% back open. I haven’t had a full recruit experience and really want to take it slow and make sure I do it the right way. Raider Nation it’s all love, thank you for believing in me.”

Very shortly after that he announced an official offer from Notre Dame.

Smith is on campus this weekend for Notre Dame-Clemson festivities and as was pointed out yesterday, where there is smoke there is usually fire.  We might not be able to see the flames yet but we can certainly feel the heat here.

Notre Dame currently has 23 commitments in the 2023 recruiting class, four of which are from Texas.  Smith, a product of Reedy High School in Frisco, Texas would add to both of those.

Smith is graded as a three-star prospect by 247Sports and is listed at 6-0, 175-pounds.  He would join a wide receiver class that already consists of four-star talents [autotag]Braylon James[/autotag], [autotag]Jaden Greathouse[/autotag], and [autotag]Rico Flores[/autotag].

Stay tuned as it feels like a commitment isn’t far off here.

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Report: Notre Dame to host 2023 Georgia wide receiver next weekend

This heated up quickly

The Irish take to the road this weekend to face off against Syracuse, but when they return to play Clemson in South Bend next weekend, they’ll be not only hosting the Tigers but a prospect that each team covets.

Recently Georgia wide receiver [autotag]Khalil Barnes[/autotag] got an offer from [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] and the Irish, with the recruitment heating up very quickly. According to a report from 247Sports Tom Loy, Barnes will on an official visit to Notre Dame as they host his perceived leader in their opponent, Clemson.

Barnes has already visited Purdue and Wake Forest over the summer, with his Clemson visit set up for later this month. The Irish will give him his first on-campus game-day experience and hopefully Freeman knocks it out of the park.

The Irish currently have some very solid verbal commitments with [autotag]Braylon James[/autotag], [autotag]Jaden Greathouse[/autotag], and [autotag]Rico Flores[/autotag]. It looks like Freeman and wide receivers coach [autotag]Chansi Stuckey[/autotag] would like to add a fourth member to his position group in the 2023 recruiting class.

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