As the football season begins, prospects from all over the country will prepare to head to South Bend for official visits to get a closer look at Notre Dame.
With less than two weeks to go before the start of the season, Blue and Gold Illustrated brings you an early look at the prospects expected to be in South Bend for the first Notre Dame home games of the season.
TEMPLE - SEPTEMBER 2
Notre Dame fans have been waiting a long time for Sept. 2.
The Irish will begin their comeback tour at home against Temple, and plenty of talented prospects are already scheduled to be in attendance.
Thomas Booker, a four-star defensive end and Rivals' No. 212 player in the country, will take his second visit to Notre Dame for the Temple game.
The Baltimore Gilman product has been high on Notre Dame for a while now, but the Irish are locked in a tight battle with Stanford.
Conroe (Texas) Oak Ridge three-star defensive end Joseph Ossai will also be in town. Ossai, the No. 18 defensive end in the class, doesn't say much publicly about his recruitment, but has the Irish in his top three along within in-state powers Texas and Texas A&M.
Notre Dame will also host four-star Everett (Wash.) Archbishop Murphy cornerback Kyler Gordon on Sept. 2. Gordon, Rivals' No. 25 cornerback in the class of 2018, has previously expressed significant interest in the Irish and is a big fan of special teams coordinator Brian Polian.
Given that Notre Dame signed zero cornerbacks in the class of 2017 and have none committed in 2018, Gordon's visit will be an important one for the staff.
GEORGIA - SEPTEMBER 9
The second week of the 2017 college football season features several big games, including Notre Dame and Georgia in South Bend.
As of now, six Notre Dame commits are scheduled to be in town for the game including four-star receiver Kevin Austin, four-star linebacker Jack Lamb, four-star safety Derrik Allen, three-star offensive tackle Cole Mabry, four-star 2019 defensive tackle Jacob Lacey and four-star 2019 quarterback Cade McNamara.
Having that many Irish commits in town should be a huge positive for Notre Dame, as several big-time uncommitted targets are also scheduled to be in attendance.
The headliner of the weekend is five-star offensive guard Jamaree Salyer, the No. 1 guard in the class and No. 10 overall player in the country. Salyer visited Notre Dame this summer with his mother, and both are big fans of offensive line coach Harry Hiestand.
Clemson and Georgia are likely the frontrunners for Salyer, but another solid trip to South Bend could put Notre Dame right in the thick of his recruitment.
Anaheim (Calif.) Servite safety Julius Irvin will also be in attendance, and has Notre Dame in his top five along with Michigan, USC, Utah and Washington.
Irvin has a strong relationship with Polian, and loves what Notre Dame can offer him on and off the field.
Etiwanda (Calif.) High receiver Geordon Porter will also make the trip from the West Coast. Porter and his family are high on the Irish and are excited about the opportunities Notre Dame presents.
Norcross (Ga.) Wesleyan tight end Tommy Tremble will attend the game as well, his second visit to Notre Dame.
Notre Dame is in great position to eventually add Tremble to the class, and an official visit could bolster that position.
Ocala (Fla.) Vanguard safety Avonta Crim will make the trip in hopes of heading back to Florida with an offer in hand.
If the Irish decide to offer, they should be in great shape with Crim going forward.
----
• Talk about it inside Rockne’s Roundtable
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.
• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @BGI_CoachD,
@BGI_DMcKinney and @BGI_CoreyBodden.
• Like us on Facebook.
