Weekly Recruiting Review 5/16/21

[Luckylucci]

New Offers
'23 FL CB Sharif Denson
'23 NJ S Adon Shuler
'23 TX DE Kennedy "Mayhem" McDowell
'23 TX DT Markis Deal
'23 LA LB Tackett Curtis
'24 TX DE Nigel Smith Jr.
'24 MO WR Ryan Wingo


Free Articles
2023 S Tackett Curtis Talks Notre Dame Offer, Future Plans | Irish Sports Daily

Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman Leaves Impression on 2023 DE Luke Montgomery | Irish Sports Daily

Notre Dame Proves An Emotional Offer For 2024 DE Nigel Smith Jr. | Irish Sports Daily

Standouts from Saturday's scrimmages in South Florida (247sports.com)

Top Performers: UC Report St. Louis (247sports.com)

247Sports No. 1 safety Xavier Nwankpa is a perfectionist

'Think Big' Mentality Impresses Top Notre Dame Defensive Targets (247sports.com)
This is a great read from Loy. Quotes from some top of the board '23 targets about the "Think Big" pitch from the defensive staff.

Takeaways from IMG Academy's spring scrimmage (247sports.com)
Some notable ND targets in here.

BlueAndGold - Blue & Gold TV: Camp Highlights Of Notre Dame QB Commit Steve Angeli (rivals.com)
8 minutes of coverage from Angeli at the Rivals Camp. Good stuff.

BlueAndGold - Blue & Gold TV: Notre Dame Football Recruiting Wrap (rivals.com)


Premium Articles
The Latest | 2022 DB Jayden Bellamy | Irish Sports Daily
Here is the quote Jayden gave Freeman

"The most impressive thing I've seen was the branding presentation I did a week ago," said Bellamy. "It surprised me a lot because I've never seen something like that and no school but Notre Dame went in-depth as they did."

Friday Recruiting Notebook | Irish Sports Daily
'23 TX WR Johntay Cook is the cousin of ND graduate transfer WR Camerson Smith (originally from ASU). Thought that was interesting.

Friday Gold Rush | Irish Sports Daily
The June visitor lists primary focus has been on '22 OV's but there is a lot of '23 talent visiting South Bend. You can check that out in our Visitor List thread. Also, 3 names that Freeman likes at DL for ND in the '23 class are Chandavian Bradley, Keon Keeley, and Luke Montgomery.

May's Most Likely | 2022 | Irish Sports Daily
Freeman's names to watch in June. JR, Schrauth, Merriweather, Devin Moore, Donovan Hinish, and Jaylen Sneed.

Elite CB Caleb Presley on Notre Dame CB Coach Mike Mickens: 'That's My Guy' (247sports.com)
Really good relationship with Mickens. Freeman, Mickens, and O'Leary are doing very well early with top '23 DB's.

Notre Dame Recruiting Five-Star Talent on Both Sides of the Ball (247sports.com)
Samuel M'Pemba is being recruited by both Rees and Elston/Freeman.

“I grew up catholic and that’s a big catholic school,” he said about Notre Dame. “Everything Notre Dame stands for, I am really excited about. Then with the 4-for-40 and the degree, you’ll be setup for life after football.”

Notre Dame's Freeman, O’Leary Doing Well with Elite 2023 Safety (247sports.com)
O'Leary is bringing it on the trail. A lot of quality feedback from recruits on his energy, communication, etc.

(4) Recruiting - Friday Morning Recruiting Notes | BlueandGold.com (rivals.com)
Singer calls ND a dark horse for '23 DE Brenan Vernon. Keep in mind that Rivals has Vernon as the #9 player overall and most chalk this up to an OSU lock. So, this has to at least perk some interest.

(4) Recruiting - Lucky Charms: Notre Dame Summer Visit Tidbits | BlueandGold.com (rivals.com)
First mention of a 2022 prospect that is going to camp at ND in June in hopes of landing an offer. '22 TX S Robert Fitzgerald will be at Irish Invasion.

(4) Recruiting - Lucky Charms: Scoop From The Road; Notre Dame After Big 10 Commit? | BlueandGold.com (rivals.com)
'22 PA OL and PSU commit Drew Shelton might be taking visits and Quinn is back in contact with him. No visit set but Quinn is trying. The board at OL still seems pretty open.


Let's Discuss
It feels like ND has really turned a corner with regards to the recruiting department. I don't think the addition of Chad Bowden should be taken for granted here. But also Mike Elston being back in charge. The combination of those two with Freeman, Mickens, and the rest of the staff really have this thing humming. The quotes that prospects are giving seem very real and there are many. But, it's even more than that. It seems organized, early, aggressive, and creative. We have the NIL/recruiting billboards, we had St. Paddy's Day pot of Gold, we have the "Think Big" presentations, we have a loaded '23 visitor list, 2024 offers, and Freeman is now video taping practices and sharing those with prospects to engage them in the day to day of Spring practice. There is just a lot of good stuff going on and it feels like it's really going to pay off. Heck, it already is. I'm going to double post this link because it's a free article from Loy that gives some insight into how it's impacting the recruits.

'Think Big' Mentality Impresses Top Notre Dame Defensive Targets (247sports.com)

5 Star DE Jason Moore

“For me, that’s one of the biggest things I’m looking for. Life after football and after school, that presentation of him showing me how Notre Dame can help, it’s really a big factor. It’s one of the most important things. It might be hard to think about because right now, it’s all about football, but we all know in the long run what’s most important, which is that degree and what you can do with life after football. To me, that’s one of the most important things.”

4 star S Terrance Love

“I really love that. A lot of schools look at football only, but not everyone can make it to the NFL. There is life after the NFL and you have to have a plan.”

Then you have the quote I posted above from Jayden Bellamy who said no school has went as in-depth as ND did, with regards to NIL. Keep in mind this is a young man that's being recruited by Clemson and OSU.

I can only speak for myself when I say I was cautiously optimistic ND would take this opportunity to really explain their value proposition to prospective student athletes. Because as we all know, if ND decided to do it big, it could do it as big as anyone. But, I'm not going lie, I did not think they'd be getting after it like this. They are early and aggressive and it's having an impact. If I'm Jack Swarbrick and I see this type of creativity and effort, I'm making sure we keep these guys around for a long time.

 

[clashmore_mike]

Good stuff Lucky!

 

[zelezo vlk]

Thanks for bringing this all together, Lucky!

 

[greyhammer90]

10/10 post.

 

[Irish#1]

New Offers


Then you have the quote I posted above from Jayden Bellamy who said no school has went as in-depth as ND did, with regards to NIL. Keep in mind this is a young man that's being recruited by Clemson and OSU.

I can only speak for myself when I say I was cautiously optimistic ND would take this opportunity to really explain their value proposition to prospective student athletes. Because as we all know, if ND decided to do it big, it could do it as big as anyone. But, I'm not going lie, I did not think they'd be getting after it like this. They are early and aggressive and it's having an impact. If I'm Jack Swarbrick and I see this type of creativity and effort, I'm making sure we keep these guys around for a long time.

This speaks volumes on how much thought has went into this. I have to believe they elicited an outside firm (Don Draper?) to help create the overall plan.