Notre Dame In Top Five Of Early Rivals Recruiting Rankings
Notre Dame stayed hot on the recruiting trail on Friday, as Rabun Gap (Ga.) Nacoochee defensive end Darren Agu announced his pledge to the Fighting Irish.
National Signing Day for the 2022 class is eight months away, and there will be plenty of movement in the Rivals recruiting rankings from now until then. Notre Dame could finish in the top five or slide down to the teens. There is no telling the future, but as things stand today, Notre Dame has a top five class.
Agu is Notre Dame’s 12th commit of the class, which ties Georgia for most in the entire country per Rivals. Having a higher number of pledges this early in the cycle is certainly helping the Irish’s early standing. Notre Dame finishing with a Rivals’ top five class will be difficult.
Notre Dame has the No. 4 class in the nation, trailing Ohio State, Georgia and LSU, respectively. Per the Rivals formula, Notre Dame has 1,293 points, which is 135 points (about the amount of a 5.9 four-star recruit) behind LSU, and 230 points ahead of Oklahoma at No. 5.
Notre Dame has an average star ranking of 3.67, which is the second lowest among schools in the top 10. For comparison’s sake, only two programs that finished in Rivals’ top 10 signed classes with lower than a 3.6 star ranking per commitment in the 2021 cycle – Michigan (No. 9, 3.57) and Notre Dame (No. 10, 3.44).
For more details on the Rivals rankings formula, click here.
Notre Dame offered Agu on Thursday, April 1 and immediately shot to the top of his list. He was considering taking official visits to Georgia Tech, Florida State, Penn State and Vanderbilt this summer — and Alabama offered on April 1 as well — but those trips will no longer be happening because Agu jumped on his offer from the Irish.
“They’re consistently so good at football, and they’re great academically as well,” Agu added about the Fighting Irish. “A degree from Notre Dame is big.”
He informed the Irish staff of his decision on April 2 and announced his pledge one week later.
“When I called Coach [Mike] Elston, he was with the rest of the staff, and they were all shouting with excitement,” Agu said. “That was pretty nice.”
Agu was born in Ireland and moved to England when he was very young. He moved to the United States last August to attend Rabun Gap (Ga.) Nacoochee, a boarding school in North Georgia with many other international recruits. Last fall was Agu’s first season of playing 11-man football.
Rivals lists Agu with a 5.7 recruit ranking, the highest designation for a three-star prospect. He’s the No. 27 “athlete” in the country and No. 47 recruit in Georgia.
| Team | Commits | Total Points |
|---|---|---|
|
1. Ohio State |
11 |
1,861 |
|
2. Georgia |
12 |
1,739 |
|
3. LSU |
11 |
1,428 |
|
4. Notre Dame |
12 |
1,293 |
|
5. Oklahoma |
7 |
1,063 |
|
6. Texas A&M |
8 |
1,003 |
|
7. Rutgers |
11 |
989 |
|
8. Penn State |
8 |
941 |
|
9. Texas |
7 |
911 |
|
10. Florida State |
7 |
822 |
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