Four-star CB Justyn Rhett leaves Notre Dame to look elsewhere
The first 2023 recruit to give Marcus Freeman a verbal commitment as Notre Dame's head coach is no longer committed to the Irish.
Four-star cornerback Justyn Rhett announced Saturday he has ditched his four-month pledge to Notre Dame. Rhett shared the news on Instagram while on an official visit to Georgia.
The news didn't come as a surprise to Notre Dame. A source told Inside ND Sports that Rhett's class exit has been in the works for weeks as Rhett wasn't in close communication with the staff.
Notre Dame's internal concerns about Rhett's future in South Bend became clear when Rhett followed through on the visit to Georgia. The Notre Dame staff informed the rest of its eight commitments that Rhett wasn't likely to stay in the class.
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The loss of Rhett's commitment dropped Notre Dame's 2023 class to No. 2 in the country and took away Notre Dame's top cornerback commitment in quite some time. Rivals ranks the 6-foot, 189-pound Rhett as the No. 7 cornerback and No. 53 overall in the class.
The Irish haven't signed a cornerback ranked inside the Rivals100 since Shaun Crawford (No. 82) in 2015. Tee Shepard (No. 76) in 2012 was the only other Rivals100 cornerback to sign with Notre Dame during former head coach Brian Kelly's tenure (2010-21). Darrin Walls (No. 51 in 2006) finished with the highest overall ranking of a Notre Dame cornerback signee in the Rivals Era (since 2002).
Rhett, a junior at Las Vegas Bishop Gorman, seems unlikely to return to Notre Dame's class. Whether he ends up at Georgia remains to be seen. Rhett previously mentioned Oregon, Alabama and USC as programs who continued to contact him.
The Irish haven't gained much traction with any cornerback ranked quite as high as Rhett, but they do have options. As it currently stands, four-star cornerback Christian Gray, who is ranked No. 102 overall, is Notre Dame's best bet at landing an elite cornerback. Gray has visited Notre Dame six times since June, including this past week, and told Inside ND Sports after the visit that he has a commitment date in mind.
Notre Dame has pursued four-star cornerbacks Javien Toviano, Caleb Presley and Malik Muhammad — all of whom are ranked inside the Rivals100 and among the top 10 at their position — with little to show for it yet. Four-star recruits Braxton Myers (No. 21 CB) and Micah Tease (No. 10 ATH) and three-star cornerback Micah Bell could soon become more important targets for the Irish.
Cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens could use some more talent at the position, but Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney doesn't think losing Rhett should be a major blow for the Irish and their pursuit of a national championship.
“Rhett is a very talented and physical cornerback, so losing him is not optimal, but it’s not what is holding Notre Dame back from taking that next step as a national championship team," Gorney said. "The Irish need more playmakers and speed on offense. Muscling their regular season opponents has not been an issue, but they’ve been evenly matched once they get to the playoff and not having numerous threats at the skill positions has hurt them.
"Rhett has the ability to make a huge impact at Notre Dame or anywhere else. But there are a lot of talented corners looking at Notre Dame and the Irish should be fine.”
Notre Dame signed a trio of cornerbacks in the 2022 class: four-star recruits Jaden Mickey and Benjamin Morrison and three-star recruit Jayden Bellamy. Mickey and Bellamy have drawn positive reviews from Notre Dame's staff as early enrolled freshmen. Morrison will join the Irish in the fall.
Texas Tech, which already has 15 verbal commitments, jumped ahead of Notre Dame for the top spot in the 2023 class rankings when Rhett exited the Irish class. But Notre Dame shouldn't be sitting on eight commitments for long. The Rivals FutureCast has Notre Dame favored to land four-star wide receiver Braylon James when he announces his commitment decision Tuesday.
Notre Dame expects to add more commitments later in the month and will host a number of top targets for the Blue-Gold Game next Saturday.
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