Visitor preview: Five-star Sonny Styles headlines Irish recruiting weekend
Notre Dame is coming off back-to-back loaded recruiting weekends that totaled in the ballpark of 100 prospects. When Navy comes to town on Saturday, it won’t have the same amount of firepower, but the headliner of the weekend certainly does.
It doesn’t get much bigger than Notre Dame hosting Pickerington (Ohio) Central’s Alex “Sonny” Styles, the nation’s No. 1 “athlete” and No. 6 overall player in the 2023 cycle per Rivals.
Notre Dame is after a handful of linebacker prospects in the 2023 class, but an argument can be made that the two most coveted – at least from a rankings standpoint – are Styles and Merrillville (Ind.) Andrean’s Drayk Bowen, the nation’s No. 2 outside linebacker and No. 22 overall player per Rivals.
Bowen committed to Notre Dame on Wednesday night. The Fighting Irish staff would love nothing more than to secure a pledge from Styles.
The two talented prospects visited South Bend Oct. 2 when the Irish fell to Cincinnati and spent some time together.
Bowen will be back on campus this weekend, too. He originally planned to visit for the Georgia Tech game in a couple of weeks, but with Styles on campus this weekend, Bowen pushed up his visit.
“I really like Drayk,” Styles told BlueandGold.com after the visit. “He’s a guy who works hard and you can tell by the way he carries himself how disciplined he is. That’s a guy I’d want to play with.”
In an interview about his commitment to the Irish, Bowen noted that he’ll be in the ear of top prospects from all over the country. Styles is included in that.
“I want other recruits to find their home, and I’m going to work to bring them here,” Bowen said. “That’s a big thing I want to do.”
Styles has a top five schools list of Clemson, Florida, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Ole Miss. The Buckeyes and Fighting Irish have been after him for well over a year and seem to be the two lead schools for the five-star prospect.
Two more notable targets to visit Notre Dame
BlueandGold.com featured Perkasie (Pa.) Pennridge Upper Sr.’s Phil Picciotti, the nation’s No. 12 linebacker and No. 9 player from his home state of Pennsylvania for the 2023 class, in an article this morning.
Picciotti received his offer from the Fighting Irish about a month ago and set up a trip to Notre Dame in short order. He was excited to receive his offer from the Fighting Irish, and the 6-3, 225-pounder will be on campus this weekend.
“It was a surprise,” Picciotti said about his scholarship conversation. “I got on the phone with Coach [Marcus] Freeman, and it was a short but effective conversation. He said he had been watching my film for a couple of weeks and that Notre Dame is a great place. He’s having a great time during his first year and wanted me to get on campus for a visit.”
Roseville (Mich.) High’s Amare Snowden, Rivals’ No. 40 cornerback in America and No. 6 prospect from Michigan in the 2023 class, will be making a return visit to South Bend.
Notre Dame offered the 6-3, 187-pound defensive back on June 7, one day after he showed out at the Irish Invasion camp. Snowden also holds offers from Cincinnati, Nebraska, Penn State, West Virginia and others.
The South Bend regulars
For just about every home game this fall — if not all of them — Joshua Burnham and Joey Tanona have been at Notre Dame.
These two prospects are as solid as commitments could possibly be. Coaching changes can typically wreck the strongest verbals out there. If something were to happen at Notre Dame, we doubt there’d be any concern over these two young men potentially flipping elsewhere. They bleed blue and gold.
Burnham, the nation’s No. 5 inside linebacker and No. 155 overall player per Rivals, spurned the in-state Michigan Wolverines when he committed to Notre Dame in March.
Tanona, the No. 8 offensive guard and No. 185 overall player nationally per Rivals, had offers from the likes of LSU, Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State before becoming the Irish’s first commitment in the class.
Both class of 2022 prospects are expected back at Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon.
Strong offensive line group
Last weekend, Notre Dame offered two new offensive line recruits in the 2023 class during their campus visit. Will the same happen on Saturday?
Liberty Township (Ohio) Lakota East offensive guard Austin Siereveld is one of the hottest prospects in the Midwest. Since Halloween, he’s received offers from Ohio State, Cincinnati, Illinois, Kentucky and West Virginia. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Irish join his offer sheet.
Dallas Highland Park offensive lineman Robert Sweeney only has four offers to this point, but they’re from quality programs in Arizona State, Florida State, Maryland and Penn State. Sweeney tells Blue & Gold that he’ll be visiting South Bend Saturday.
Columbus (Ohio) St. Charles’ three-star offensive tackle Ryan Carretta, the nephew of former Irish tight end Kevin Carretta, will be on campus. Carretta was also on campus for the Irish Invasion camp in June.
The three offensive line prospects just mentioned are in the 2023 class, and in the 2024 cycle, the Irish will host Olney (Md.) Good Counsel offensive lineman Kyle Altuner, a 6-3, 284-pounder with offers from Boston College, Maryland, Ole Miss, Penn State, Pittsburgh and Rutgers.
More notable underclassmen prospects
Nashville (Tenn.) Lipscomb Academy class of 2024 cornerback Kaleb Beasley should be on offer watch this weekend. The 6-0, 175-pounder has Florida, Georgia, LSU, Michigan and Tennessee on his early offer sheet and ranks inside the Rivals top-100 watch list.
Notre Dame fans will remember the name Gavin Sawchuk, a class of 2022 running back who closely considered Notre Dame before ultimately committing to Oklahoma. His younger brother, Gabe Sawchuk, a class of 2024 athlete from Highlands Ranch (Colo.) Valor Christian, will be on campus at Notre Dame this weekend. He holds offers from Arizona State, Colorado and USC early on.
For inquiring minds, we’re told that Gavin is not making the trip and is considered solid with the Sooners.
Greenville (S.C.) High’s Mazeo Bennett will be at Notre Dame, and the class of 2024 prospect is a promising young wide receiver. Coastal Carolina, Kentucky, South Carolina and Virginia Tech have already offered Bennett.
There will be a couple of notable underclassmen quarterback prospects on campus.
West Palm Beach (Fla.) Cardinal Newman class of 2025 signal-caller Davi Belfort received an offer from Alabama before he took a snap at the high school level. Arizona State, Florida State and Miami have also offered.
Notre Dame offered its first class of 2025 quarterback (Ryan Montgomery) a couple weeks ago. Could Belfort join the mix?
Belfort’s father is Vito Belfort, a professional mixed martial artist who defeated Evander Holyfield in an exhibition boxing match in September. He has a record of 26-14-1 in MMA.
Savannah (Ga.) Calvary Day class of 2024 quarterback Jake Merlinger, who holds early offers from Cincinnati and Michigan State, will be on campus too. He stands at 6-3, 185 pounds per Rivals.
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