Notre Dame will leave November and the early signing period with its top 2021 target secured.
Four-star guard Blake Wesley from South Bend’s Riley High School committed to the Irish Friday, becoming the highest-ranked high school player to choose Notre Dame since the 2018 cycle. He’s the No. 22 shooting guard and No. 96 overall player nationally in the 2021 class. What does his addition mean and what does he bring? Here’s a breakdown of it.
1. Notre Dame waited more than 15 months between 2021 commitments and had poured all its attention into Wesley in recent weeks. Landing him was a must, especially in this pandemic-affected cycle. Had the Irish missed, they would have entered the spring signing period needing to target high school players the coaching staff had not seen in person in at least a year (if at all) or transfers.
Wesley was familiar with Notre Dame, and Notre Dame with Wesley. The Irish entered the picture in July 2019 and never left, which only added to the comfort as the recruiting cycle was altered with visits prohibited. His Indiana, Purdue and Louisville recruitments fizzled in late summer and early fall, which made Notre Dame the only school that could boast extensive familiarity compared to the others he couldn’t visit due to the dead period.
