Notre Dame won't host Maryland transfer OL Mason Lunsford
Maryland grad transfer Mason Lunsford, a two year-starter at offensive guard for the Terrapins, announced on Monday via Twitter that he’ll be taking an official visit to check out the Irish this weekend.
One day later, it's become clear that Notre Dame's interest isn't mutual. A source told Inside ND Sports on Tuesday that Notre Dame does not plan to host Lunsford on a visit this weekend, because the Irish are happy with their depth chart at the moment.
The initial Lunsford news came the same day Notre Dame identified its choice to succeed recently retired offensive line coach Harry Hiestand. Former Wisconsin and Virginia Tech offensive line coach Joe Rudolph is expected to accept the job.
Ten days after the 6-foot-7, 305-pound product of Olney (Md.) Good Counsel entered the NCAA transfer portal, Lunsford has already amassed eight offers, but one of them wasn't from Notre Dame. Lunsford was a three-star prospect coming out of high school with five reported offers.
Good Counsel is the same school that sent cornerback Cam Hart and center Sam Mustipher to Notre Dame in recent years. In fact, Hart and Lunsford were both in the 2019 recruiting class.
Because he’s a grad transfer, Lunsford didn’t have to wait until the May 1-15 window to enter the portal. And wherever he lands, he’ll have two years of eligibility. His reported offers include LSU, Arkansas, Louisville, Houston, Tulane, Charlotte, Buffalo and James Madison.
Rudolph inherits an All-American in junior left tackle Joe Alt and one with a similar career trajectory in junior right tackle Blake Fisher. Grad senior Zeke Correll is the third returning starter, an incumbent at center. The guard spots are wide open.
Sophomore Billy Schrauth, junior Rocco Spindler and grad senior Andrew Kristofic are all expected to compete for the guard vacancies this spring, as might some of the backup tackles.
So far Notre Dame has added five scholarship transfers and two walk-on transfers — a record haul already — this offseason. Quarterback Sam Hartman, defensive end Javontae Jean-Baptiste, safety/nickel Thomas Harper and wide receiver Kaleb Smith (the elder) are already on campus taking classes and going through winter workouts.
They’re all expected to participate in spring practice, which starts March 22 and concludes with the April 22 Blue-Gold Game. Scholarship kicker Spencer Shader, walk-on punter Ben Krimm and walk-on defensive end/linebacker Cole Aubrey will enroll in June.
| Player | Position | Class | Former School |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Kicker |
2018 |
South Florida |
|
|
Punter |
2019 |
Penn |
|
|
Wide receiver |
2018 |
Virginia Tech |
|
|
Quarterback |
2018 |
Wake Forest |
|
|
Safety |
2019 |
Oklahoma State |
|
|
Defensive end |
2018 |
Ohio State |
|
|
Linebacker/End |
2019 |
Princeton |
The Notre Dame Football Transfer Tracker details who's in and who's out from Notre Dame's roster since the start of the 2022 season.
Rivals has rankings for most of Notre Dame's incoming and outgoing transfers.
The Insider Lounge is tracking which portal prospects Notre Dame has offered.
The Rivals Transfer Tracker is the home for all the transfer portal movement nationally.
The 2023 Notre Dame Scholarship Chart breaks down the roster by position group and year of eligibility, and is being updated with each ingoing or outgoing transaction.
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