The Notre Dame fan base received excellent news late on Monday night in the form of a new commitment.
Valrico (Fla.) Bloomingdale cornerback Philip Riley picked Notre Dame in May, but backed off that pledge in September. He soon afterwards committed to USC. However, the Irish staff never gave up on Riley and got him back in the fold, which he announced on Nov. 16.
Riley will sign with the Fighting Irish in December and enroll early. He is Notre Dame’s 20th verbal commitment in the 2021 class, which ranks No. 10 overall per Rivals.
The Irish came into the day at the No. 11 spot but passed Clemson. The Tigers, however, have three less commitments than Notre Dame does.
Riley’s commitment, per the Rivals formula, adds Notre Dame 109 points to its class total, putting the Irish at 2,278. Clemson is 2,240 points, and one spot ahead of Notre Dame at No. 9 is Georgia, which has 18 commitments and 2,312 points.
For more details on the Rivals rankings formula, click here.
Of the schools in Rivals’ top 10 rankings, Notre Dame has the fewest amount of four-star commitments. The Irish have seven, while the next lowest is Michigan, Georgia and Tennessee all tied with 12.
That may frustrate some Irish fans, but what is helping Notre Dame in the rankings is that nine of its 12 three-star commitments are borderline four-star prospects with a 5.7 three-star designation.
When sorting by average star ranking, Notre Dame has the No. 16 class in the country with an average of 3.45 stars per recruit. The Irish are directly above Wisconsin, Texas, Auburn and Washington, respectively.
Riley is Notre Dame’s fourth defensive back pledge of the 2021 class, joining Bolingbrook (Ill.) High’s Justin Walters, Encino (Calif.) Crespi’s Chance Tucker and Gaithersburg (Md.) Quince Orchard’s Ryan Barnes.
During his recruiting process, Riley held offers from the likes of Clemson, Florida State, Miami, Oregon, Penn State, Texas and Washington.
Rivals ranks Riley as the No. 38 player in Florida, and the No. 24 cornerback and No. 241 overall player in the country. Riley is originally from the state of Washington but moved to Florida in December 2018.
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