'23 FL DE Keon Keeley (Prodigal Son)

[Irish#1]

T Town and Bishop over here exhibiting class while we are getting petty as f&*$.

If we win 5 titles in 9-10 years, I hope we become that classy.

No way. I'm going to rub it in their faces!

 

[stlnd01]

Yeah, we got a summary of it?

This one’s a free read. Sounds like pretty typical Bama commit stuff. He wants to push himself to be the best, etc. I’m not sure it means much of anything about us, or NIL, or whatever.

Five-star Keon Keeley talks commitment to Alabama 'I love the tradition, I really love the program'

The nation's No. 1 edge rusher is talks about his pledge to Nick Saban.

247sports.com

 

[IrishinTN]

TTT is a pretty classy dude.

Yes he is. Always been a pretty good guy to have around here.

 

[Dale]

Keeley never said he deep down still wanted to be at ND over Bama. That was some weird defense mechanism the ND beat triggered with him and Dante. My guess would be because guys like Loy or whoever truly liked Keon and Dante as kids and felt bad or ND wanted them to put that out there to make the poachers Bama and Oregon look like the big bad pay for play NIL guys.

 

[NDMD]

Keeley never said he deep down still wanted to be at ND over Bama. That was some weird defense mechanism the ND beat triggered with him and Dante. My guess would be because guys like Loy or whoever truly liked Keon and Dante as kids and felt bad or ND wanted them to put that out there to make the poachers Bama and Oregon look like the big bad pay for play NIL guys.

ISD heavily intimated NIL was a big deal / nonstarter with ND for Keeley. Who knows how much of that actually weighed into it, but they haven't thrown that around freely with most guys ND missed out on.

 

[IrishLax]

Keeley never said he deep down still wanted to be at ND over Bama. That was some weird defense mechanism the ND beat triggered with him and Dante. My guess would be because guys like Loy or whoever truly liked Keon and Dante as kids and felt bad or ND wanted them to put that out there to make the poachers Bama and Oregon look like the big bad pay for play NIL guys.

Disagree on Keeley. He had grown ups around him talk him into "you need to get paid." This isn't even inside info, beyond the beat talking about it his mom literally posted on social media the equivalent of "holy crap I didn't know we could make this kind of money" after Nico got his deal at Tenn that was so heavily publicized. They had an open conversation with ND about what it would take for them to feel comfortable and when it was clear that ND wasn't going to play ball he moved on. He decommitted strictly for financial reasons and if ND was offering the same bag as Bama I think he never even would've looked around.

Dante I have no idea. He told coaches one thing, and people made his dad into the villain when he backed off his "silent." And that's because his dad came to the visit where Dante was supposed to publicly commit afterwards and asked a ton of uncomfortable NIL questions. Just flat out "show me the money" style stuff... "School X is offering Y, what are you offering?" I heard it was incredibly awkward but it all came from his parents not Dante himself. Is what it is, I don't think anyone has a clue what Dante's personal feelings are but in the past guys like this end up like JT Daniels.

 

[Dale]

Disagree on Keeley. He had grown ups around him talk him into "you need to get paid." This isn't even inside info, beyond the beat talking about it his mom literally posted on social media the equivalent of "holy crap I didn't know we could make this kind of money" after Nico got his deal at Tenn that was so heavily publicized. They had an open conversation with ND about what it would take for them to feel comfortable and when it was clear that ND wasn't going to play ball he moved on. He decommitted strictly for financial reasons and if ND was offering the same bag as Bama I think he never even would've looked around.

Dante I have no idea. He told coaches one thing, and people made his dad into the villain when he backed off his "silent." And that's because his dad came to the visit where Dante was supposed to publicly commit afterwards and asked a ton of uncomfortable NIL questions. Just flat out "show me the money" style stuff... "School X is offering Y, what are you offering?" I heard it was incredibly awkward but it all came from his parents not Dante himself. Is what it is, I don't think anyone has a clue what Dante's personal feelings are but in the past guys like this end up like JT Daniels.

I’m not saying NIL wasn’t the leading factor for their decommittments and eventual commitments elsewhere, I’m saying I don’t really buy the star crossed lover well Keon really wanted to be here story. Keon started visiting other schools just a few months after committing. He visited Florida in the fall, Bama in January. Those were months before the word uncle was spoken here.

 

[fightingirish26]

Keeley committed before the biggest offers came in. His friend was committed for baseball, he liked the staff, good fit. Then the Bama, OSU, etc. offers came in, the NIL discussions were had, and Keeley realized he liked those opportunities more. I sort of think their camp leveraged the PWO football offer for the younger Reader but oh well.

 

[ThePiombino]

After reading his quotes on 247 not only did he get his bag of money but he wasn’t telling the truth about wanting to be at ND.

I'm absolutely shocked.

Keeley never said he deep down still wanted to be at ND over Bama. That was some weird defense mechanism the ND beat triggered with him and Dante. My guess would be because guys like Loy or whoever truly liked Keon and Dante as kids and felt bad or ND wanted them to put that out there to make the poachers Bama and Oregon look like the big bad pay for play NIL guys.

I'm even more chocked that our ND's PR department (aka the beat) would do that.

Keeley committed before the biggest offers came in. His friend was committed for baseball, he liked the staff, good fit. Then the Bama, OSU, etc. offers came in, the NIL discussions were had, and Keeley realized he liked those opportunities more. I sort of think their camp leveraged the PWO football offer for the younger Reader but oh well.

This is the way. And for those who think we lost to NIL, we didn't. This would have happened regardless of the NIL era. Kid was going to get a bag one way or another.

 

[irishandy]

We lost him to NIL or not? Didn't his mom post on social media that his son would be available if the price was right?

Was Keeley an ND kid or not? Normally when a kid decommits they go to plan B sooner than 5 months.

I think Keeley's path to seeing sooner PT would've been at Notre Dame.

Hard to wish a kid well when he f*cks over the school.

Forgive me for thinking that ND still had a chance with him.....

 

[irishff1014]

We lost him to NIL or not? Didn't his mom post on social media that his son would be available if the price was right?

Was Keeley an ND kid or not? Normally when a kid decommits they go to plan B sooner than 5 months.

I think Keeley's path to seeing sooner PT would've been at Notre Dame.

Hard to wish a kid well when he f*cks over the school.

Forgive me for thinking that ND still had a chance with him.....

They were about the money bags in the end.

 

[INLaw]

We lost him to NIL or not? Didn't his mom post on social media that his son would be available if the price was right?

Was Keeley an ND kid or not? Normally when a kid decommits they go to plan B sooner than 5 months.

I think Keeley's path to seeing sooner PT would've been at Notre Dame.

Hard to wish a kid well when he f*cks over the school.

Forgive me for thinking that ND still had a chance with him.....

It’s ok to say say fuck him

 

[FWIrish4]

T Town and Bishop over here exhibiting class while we are getting petty as f&*$.

If we win 5 titles in 9-10 years, I hope we become that classy.

I have some Michigan and Buckeye fans that I owe a ton of shit talking to, so absolutely not.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

 

[NDWarrior]

Interesting story about Ohio State, NIL and Collectives and how OSU can't keep up with schools like UGA who per the Twitter convo linked here paid some very big $ - upfront and per year - to secure a 5-star where OSU couldn't come close to matching it. Article: Ohio State missed out 5-star recruit as college football NIL arms race heats up: report

 

[Katzenboyer]

In knowing people in and around the Berkeley Prep program, this absolutely was about NIL, and this absolutely was about Keeley getting pressured by family to be somewhere that played ball prior to enrollment.

ISD sources on this are spot on. This kid signs with ND if handlers didn't become the driving force in his recruitment.

 

[dublinirish]

sighhhh

 

[dublinirish]

sighhhh

thats Luke Montgomery most likely realizing he's never gonna play Tackle

 

[NDpendent]

likely realizing he's never gonna play Tackle

There was a reason he was pushing so hard for Keeley to come to OSU, he doesnt want to face up to him

 

[IA4irish]

I don’t see any stats for him for the season at Alabama. Has he even played? Dude seemed like he would be a great fit at ND. He would’ve seen the field and likely could’ve made big NIL money here

 

[Blazers46]

I don’t see any stats for him for the season at Alabama. Has he even played? Dude seemed like he would be a great fit at ND. He would’ve seen the field and likely could’ve made big NIL money here

All true, just shows how the depth and recruiting is light years ahead of ND. He’s just another dude at bama. He would be THE dude in South Bend

 

[Reaper97]

All true, just shows how the depth and recruiting is light years ahead of ND. He’s just another dude at bama. He would be THE dude in South Bend

That’s not true.
Bama has struggled to get a pass rush & they have been calling for the younger guys to get snaps.
ND’s Defense if just as good as, if not better than Bama’s.
And Keeley would not be starting over JJP this year. Not even close.

 

[Te'o4Heisman]

That’s not true.
Bama has struggled to get a pass rush & they have been calling for the younger guys to get snaps.
ND’s Defense if just as good as, if not better than Bama’s.
And Keeley would not be starting over JJP this year. Not even close.

Seriously. I’d take NDs defense over Alabama’s 7 days a week right now.

 

[Lberry]

"NDs defense is better so Keon wouldn't be getting snaps here either" shows a broken thought process.

 

[Te'o4Heisman]

"NDs defense is better so Keon wouldn't be getting snaps here either" shows a broken thought process.

Who said that and where?

 

[MacIrish75]

"NDs defense is better so Keon wouldn't be getting snaps here either" shows a broken thought process.

I don’t think it’s wrong based on stats…but it does seem like just a dash of copium lol.

 

[Lberry]

Who said that and where?

Paraphrasing reaper. Downplaying the need of Keon at ND because JPP starting (so what?), and using NDs defense as being better than Bamas to justify.

We need Keon's in ever class and he would definitely be playing this year, yes, on a team that is likely better than Bamas defensively.

This is the cycle ND fans need to break 1) Missing on elite talent 2) time passing 3) "only want players who want to be here" and "so whats" 4) Wondering why we haven't won a major bowl since the 90s.

 

[irishff1014]

I don’t see any stats for him for the season at Alabama. Has he even played? Dude seemed like he would be a great fit at ND. He would’ve seen the field and likely could’ve made big NIL money here

When you family is selfish and are gonna make money offer if you they don’t care if you play or not. It’s bullshit family members are pumping out these young men.

And this will start pissing off donors and they will be selective of who they pay form and then start asking for coaches to be fired more than they do.

You make your bed you must lay in it.

 

[CanadalovesND]

I believe he had shoulder surgery in the spring. It wasn't going to keep him out of the season, but it was a small set back. I believe he was fully recovered by the time he enrolled in June.

 

[irishff1014]

That’s not true.
Bama has struggled to get a pass rush & they have been calling for the younger guys to get snaps.
ND’s Defense if just as good as, if not better than Bama’s.
And Keeley would not be starting over JJP this year. Not even close.

You are right but he could probably getting special packages to have them both in the field at the same time. Botelho has been a disappointment.