Five Things We Learned About Notre Dame Recruiting In January
It was a very busy month for Brian Kelly and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish coaching staff. BlueandGold.com gives you five things we learned from January.
1. Marcus Freeman Can Flat Out Recruit
I'm not even really sure where to start here. New Notre Dame defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman has simply been all over it on the recruiting front.
Just a few days after Notre Dame announced on Jan. 8 that it hired Freeman, he got right to work and has connected with probably 30-40 Fighting Irish targets in the 2022 class, including offering several new prospects as well.
Freeman was important to Notre Dame pulling off an impressive recruiting in mid-January. St. Louis John Burroughs class of 2022 defensive end Tyson Ford was going to announce his commitment to Oklahoma, before a strong run from Freeman and defensive line coach Mike Elston led Ford to choosing the Irish.
Here are a few articles posted by BlueandGold.com in January on Freeman's recruiting efforts.
The Gold Standard: Marcus Freeman Grinding On Recruiting Trail
Next Two-Sport Star At Notre Dame? Four-Star LB Chats With Marcus Freeman
Marcus Freeman At Notre Dame Brings ‘Dynamic Change’ For Sebastian Cheeks
Notre Dame Commit Nolan Ziegler Talks Marcus Freeman, Winning State Title
Rivals250 LB Devon Jackson Excited About Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman
2. Notre Dame QB Recruiting Heats Up
Notre Dame offered two quarterbacks in the 2022 class back in August of 2020 when offensive coordinator Tommy Rees extended good news to Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic's Steve Angeli and Owensboro (Ky.) High's Gavin Wimsatt.
Angeli and Wimsatt have continued to keep in contact with Rees and Co. over the past several months, but an offer to Martin (Tenn.) Westview's Ty Simpson signified that the Notre Dame staff was going to be picking up their pursuit to find a quarterback in the 2022 cycle.
Notre Dame offered Simpson on Jan. 22, and just nine days later, Simpson posted on his Twitter account that he would be announcing his commitment on Feb. 19. With Notre Dame entering the recruitment so late, it would be a surprise if the Irish are able to overtake the schools that have been on him for much longer.
Wimsatt narrowed his list down to nine schools on Jan. 29 with Cincinnati, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Louisville, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Oregon, Rutgers and West Virginia making the cut.
Angeli still seems like the favorite as Notre Dame's quarterback in the cycle. Angeli plans to remain patient with his recruiting process, but the feeling is that he will choose Notre Dame if the staff gives him a strong push.
3. Logan Diggs Saga Continues
Notre Dame signed 26 prospects in December, and the lone prospect (to our knowledge) that the Irish hope to announce as part of its 2021 class on National Signing Day 2.0 this upcoming Monday is Metairie (La.) Rummel's Logan Diggs.
He pledged to the Fighting Irish last summer and was solid with the Irish until LSU offered him a week before the early signing period. It appeared that Diggs was locked in with the Irish but the allure of staying close to home and playing for the Tigers is strong.
We expect Diggs to announce a decision on Wednesday, and the BlueandGold.com will have plenty of coverage of Diggs throughout the week.
4. Handful Of New Offers Out
By our count, Notre Dame offered 19 prospects in the 2022 class in January.
13 of those prospects play on the defensive side of the ball, and the Irish staff is now pursuing some of the highest ranked prospects in the country.
Hilton Head (S.C.) High linebacker Jaylon Sneed (No. 57), Plantation (Fla.) American Heritage cornerback Earl Little Jr. (No. 90), Cypress (Texas) Park linebacker Harold Perkins (No. 33), Mission Hills (Calif.) Bishop Alemany linebacker Niuafe Tuihalamaka (No. 65), Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy defensive backs Kamari Wilson (No. 22) and Daylen Everette (No. 59) and the aforementioned Simpson (No. 36) were the prospects inside the 2022 Rivals100 who Notre Dame offered in January.
A few other notable offers include...
- Salt Lake City Brighton linebacker Lander Barton, who has been in close contact with Freeman and recruiting coordinator Brian Polian. Utah is the favorite for Barton with very strong program ties to the Utes, but the Irish are making a run.
- Recent safety offers Cooper Barkate from Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei and KJ Winston from Hyattsville (Md.) Dematha are rising prospects who are from big-time high schools. Barkate is considered a Notre Dame lean at this point.
- Buford (Ga.) High cornerback Ryland Gandy, who is very high on the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame may hold the lead at this point in time.
- Union (N.J.) High cornerback Davison Igbinosun, who is likely an Irish lean as well.
- Germantown (Tenn.) four-star safety Kody Jones placed Notre Dame among his top 10 schools list on Sunday, which includes Memphis, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma, Michigan, Oregon, Ole Miss, Cincinnati and Mississippi State.
- Houston (Texas) The Woodlands linebacker Martrell Harris Jr. earned his offer from Notre Dame, and Freeman and Co. have already had multiple Zoom calls with him.
5. Notre Dame Has Minor Recruiting Violations
No, there's no bowl ban or anything major to come from this, but the Irish did get hit with a recruiting violations.
The full list of penalties, per the NCAA’s announcement:
• One year of probation, from Jan. 21, 2021 through Jan. 21, 2022.
• A $5,000 fine.
• A six-month show-cause order for the former assistant football coach, including a one-game suspension at any employing member school.
• Reduced football official visits for the 2020-21 academic year by one.
• Reduced football unofficial visits by 14 days for the 2020-21 academic year.
• A seven-day off-campus recruiting ban for the entire football staff during the 2020-21 academic year.
• The university ended the recruitment of the Seattle-based prospect.
• The university will not recruit any prospects from the high school in Seattle from the 2019-20 through 2021-22 academic years.
If certain penalties can’t be served during the designated year due to COVID-19 complications, they will carry over to the next academic year.
Probation itself does not include a bowl ban, but a violation of it could turn into one.
For more details on this story, click here.
----
• Talk about it inside Rockne’s Roundtable.
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
• Sign up for Blue & Gold's news alerts and daily newsletter.
• Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts.
• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @Rivals_Singer, @PatrickEngel_, @MasonPlummer_ and @AndrewMentock.
• Like us on Facebook.