Well folks, it’s that time of year again… Even better than Festivus, National Signing Day is finally upon us. Tomorrow morning faxes will start rolling in, and by the afternoon the class of 2018 will be set and we’ll all rejoice! No, I’m just kidding, we’ll be moderately pleased for about ten seconds and then we’ll start to obsess over 2019 recruiting. Same as it ever was. Anyway… We proudly (?) bring you the 18 Stripes 2018 Signing Day Primer, which will review Notre Dame’s final targets and how things might fall out. The early signing period removed a lot of drama about tomorrow; all but one of Notre Dame’s 22 commits coming into the day have already signed. With only a handful of prospects still truly on the board, the Gug’s fax machine will be much quieter than in years past.
I’m sure the coaches appreciate the decrease in stress, at least. For the rest of us, it allows us to obsess even more intently over how the class closes, which is totally healthy and not at all a sign of imbalanced priorities. Honest. There are eight targets left on the board, to varying degrees of seriousness; we’ll look at each one briefly, and then at overall numbers for the class. Rankings, as usual, are from the 247 Composite.
The Players
Nick Petit-Frere, OT, #7 overall, #1 position
Baby Bro has been a locked vault when it comes to his recruitment; in my nearly 25 years of tracking Irish recruiting classes, I don’t think I’ve seen a greater cipher. His final five schools, in no particular order, were Alabama, Florida, Michigan, Notre Dame, and Ohio State. The consensus is that his true final group is Florida, Notre Dame, and Ohio State, but the consensus ends there. Each team recruiting site believes something different about his top two teams – it’s ND vs OSU, or OSU vs UF, or UF vs ND. Florida is the home team for the Tampa product. Trusted adviser Greg Schiano, whether he stays in Columbus or not, is a strong voice for Ohio State. Notre Dame is a perfect fit for his personality and ambitions. Who knows?
18S Writers Poll:
Notre Dame 1, Ohio State 2, Florida 3, Cloudy 2
Solomon Tuliaupupu, #86 overall, #3 position
USC really flubbed the recruitment of Solo, which allowed Clark Lea to get a foot in the door. Lea connected with the family in a big way and did a great job getting Notre Dame to the table. Unfortunately, that’s probably where it will end. UCLA is making a late run to add some intrigue, but right now he looks like a USC lock. Even though they pretty much ignored him for most of the cycle. Man, I hate them.
18S Writers Poll:
Notre Dame 0, USC 7, UCLA 1
Lawrence Keys III, WR, #283 overall, #46 position
This looks to be a pretty simple one. There’s no official word out yet, but momentum is clearly trending in Notre Dame’s direction after late official visits to Texas and SMU. Texas 247 mod EJ Holland put in a crystal ball prediction yesterday for Notre Dame. That pretty much says it.
18S Writers Poll:
Notre Dame 8, SMU 0, Texas 0
Noah Boykin, CB, #365 overall, #34 position
Boykin has flirted with Notre Dame for months, and was reportedly even a silent commit for a few hours. Ultimately, we suspect he’ll find a higher comfort level elsewhere, and that elsewhere will be Florida.
18S Writers Poll:
Notre Dame 0, Florida 8
Jarrett Patterson, OT, #368, #25
The chance to play close to home is a draw for Patterson, but there’s no question that Notre Dame has caught his eye too. Chip Kelly retained Hank Fraley, Jim Mora’s OL coach, which has provided some continuity for Patterson. Jeff Quinn has made a quick impression, however, and it’s notable that Notre Dame got the last in-home visit on Friday.
18S Writers Poll:
Notre Dame 3, UCLA 5
DJ Brown, CB, #486 overall, #49 position
Brown was close to flipping from Virginia back around the football banquet before being told the class was probably full. After a couple of options fell through the Irish staff circled back to him, and thankfully he was receptive. He picked up a late offer from Ohio State and scheduled an official visit there. He took an official visit to Notre Dame once he was back on the radar and decommitted from Virginia as he left campus. And then he canceled his Ohio State visit. He released a final three of Cal, Northwestern, and Notre Dame, but the tea leaves seem pretty clear on this one.
18S Writers Poll:
Notre Dame 8, Cal 0, Northwestern 0
Derrick Eason, SDE, #1189 overall, #60 #49 position
Similar to Brown, Eason picked up a Notre Dame offer late in the process and immediately scheduled an official visit. He got some late interest from Miami as well, which probably would’ve resulted in an offer if he had visited. Things seem to be trending Notre Dame’s way here as well; after Eason’s Notre Dame visit, NC State offered and accepted a commitment from a JUCO defensive lineman. Feel free to connect the dots.
18S Writers Poll:
Notre Dame 8, NC State 0
C’Bo Flemister, #1387 overall, #83 #49 position
Flemister was set to sign with Georgia Tech back in December, but backed off that plan when Tennessee offered. He visited Tennessee and loved it, enough so that they seemed to have the momentum. That changed when Notre Dame offered, though. Flemister immediately set up a visit and, again, things have trended hard toward the Irish since. Georgia Tech offered a couple of running backs, as they seem to consider Flemister gone already. Neither Tennessee nor Georgia Tech visited Flemister last week, but Notre Dame did. Look! More dots!
18S Writers Poll:
Notre Dame 8, Georgia Tech 0, Tennessee 0
Great primer, you should be proud of it! Was impressed to see the writer consensus for 4 more names, I guess I was thinking things were almost wrapped up but nice to see the 25-man class is probably going to happen after all.
“in no particular order, were Alabama, Florida, Michigan, Notre Dame, and Ohio State.”
This is alphabetical order, bro.
It was a riff on the “these are my top five, !!!NO ORDER!!!” that we often see on Twitter. But I get your point. That’s why you’re a doctor, man. You’re smart.
In response, you should have just said “NO INTERVIEWS!!!!”
Oh man, good call. Missed opportunity.
Please respect my decision.
And please respect my decision.
Is Noah Boykin in the Brendan Doghouse? Why does everyone else get a 20-pt font and our man Noah is stuck with a 10 pt? I wouldnt pick ND either if that’s how I’m getting treated.
Heh, good catch, fixed. Without getting too deep into the weeds, our article editor doesn’t show all the formatting the same way the site does. In there, H4 text (which is what all the names are) looks the same as bolded regular text. A rare peek behind the 18S curtain. You’re welcome.
Also, Noah Boykin – any relation to Maurice Stovall?
One of my favorite running jokes at 18S. May it never die.
It has to be a running joke, because we can’t trust Wimbush’s accuracy with a passing joke.
I hate USC. As much as people use academics as a reason why it’s tough for us to recruit, the Solo recruitment highlights a much bigger problem for us.
First, there are barely ever top 100 recruits in IN, let alone actually near ND. And second, there is no location where there is such a big natural push to ND that we could ignore someone for an entire process (let alone a top 100 kid) and then swoop in late and compete with other top 20 programs.
Most of you are probably aware, but I should’ve mentioned above that the lone post-early-signing commit is OT Luke Jones. There’s no drama whatsoever around his recruitment, and he’s fully expected to sign on the dotted line tomorrow.
Add DJ Brown!