Four-Star 2023 CB Christian Gray Feels ‘At Home’ After Notre Dame Visit
Christian Gray is from St. Louis, but is getting used to making the trek to South Bend.
The four-star cornerback from the class of 2023 visited Notre Dame this week less than two months after he spent time with the Irish in early June. The St. Louis De Smet rising junior fell more in love with the campus, the coaches, the players — all of it.
“It felt amazing,” Gray said. “It felt great. It felt really good. It felt like I was still at home.”
Gray’s June 6 visit was for the Irish Invasion camp, so he didn’t have much time to connect with Notre Dame coaches and current players. That wasn’t the case this time. Gray said he learned much more about the Irish culture through conversations with defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman and running back Kyren Williams.
“I’ve been able to get a feel for the environment and how the coaching staff acts,” Gray said. “I’ve seen players already on the team too. I asked Kyren questions about Notre Dame, and he said it’s great. He said it feels like home every day. It’s comfortable for him. I learned a lot from him today.”
Gray learned a lot from Freeman, defensive recruiting director Chad Bowden and cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens too. When he wasn’t gleaning more about Notre Dame from the likes of Williams and other players, he was absorbing all he could from that trio.
“They were telling me they’re really excited and that I’ll have fun learning more about the school and about the program,” Gray said. “They told us about how they develop players and get them to the highest level and how they get them to be something beyond what they can be.”
This week was a chance for Notre Dame to display itself as more than a football factory. Sure, it’s important for the Irish to show recruits what they can do on the field in college and beyond if they choose to put on the golden helmet.
But it’s also important for them to get prospective players to understand Notre Dame isn’t solely invested in them as players. They care about them as people too. Gray said that’s what he took away from his visit. That’s why he also said Notre Dame fits firmly into his top 10 school choices at this stage of his recruitment.
Gray currently only has 11 offers according to Rivals, but that list is certainly set to grow between now and when he can officially sign a letter of intent in December 2022.
Notre Dame will have to battle Gray’s home-state school of Missouri to get him to sign on a blue and gold dotted line in a year and a half, but powerhouse schools like Ohio State and Florida have extended offers to him in the early going as well.
If Gray keeps impressing in camps and at De Smet, attention will keep coming his way. In the meantime, Notre Dame has done all it can so far to impress him. Asked for his final thoughts about his visit this week, Gray repeated a three-letter word that might not seem like much but still packs a punch.
“It was fun,” Gray said. “I had so much fun.”
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