Welcome back to the latest edition of the 2020 Football Recruiting Big Board! Since Brendan’s last offensive big board update, the Irish added another OL to their 2020 class with the commitment of Michael Carmody.
Additionally, the Irish added two 2021 commitments in DT Gabriel Rubio and OL Blake Fisher.
Finally, since the last defensive big board update, the Irish gained the commitment of 2020 CB Clarence Lewis.
Let’s begin!
Position | 247C | First Name | Last Name | Temp | Hometown | State |
CB | 0.9960 | Kelee | Ringo | Cold | Scottsdale | AZ |
CB | 0.9750 | Clark | Phillips | Cool | La Habra | CA |
CB | 0.9513 | Enzo | Jennings | Cool | Oak Park | MI |
CB | 0.9220 | Jahari | Rogers | Cold | Arlington | TX |
CB | 0.9314 | Ethan | Pouncey | Cold | Winter Park | FL |
CB | 0.8884 | Cameron | Martinez | Mild | Muskegon | MI |
CB | 0.8738 | William | Nixon | Cool | Waco | TX |
CB | 0.8678 | Caleb | Offord | Warm | Southaven | MS |
CB | 0.8566 | Landen | Bartleson | Mild+ | Danville | KY |
CB | 0.8499 | Ramon | Henderson | Cool | Bakersfield | CA |
DT | 0.9464 | Darrion | Henry | Cold | Cincinnati | OH |
DT | 0.9380 | Jacolbe | Cowan | Cold | Charlotte | NC |
DT | 0.9346 | Kedrick | Bingley-Jones | Cold | Charlotte | NC |
DT | 0.9144 | Coziah | Izzard | Cold | Hyattsville | MD |
ILB | 0.9986 | Justin | Flowe | Cold | Upland | CA |
OLB | 0.9979 | Sav’ell | Smalls | Cold | Burien | WA |
OLB | 0.9781 | Phillip | Webb | Cold | Buford | GA |
OLB | 0.9479 | Prince | Dorbah | Cold | Dallas | TX |
OLB | 0.9374 | Cody | Simon | Mild | Jersey City | NJ |
OLB | 0.9075 | Jaheim | Thomas | Cold | Cincinnati | OH |
S | 0.9625 | Lathan | Ransom | Mild | Tucson | AZ |
S | 0.9433 | Chris | Thompson | Cold | Duncanville | TX |
S | 0.9368 | Jordan | Morant | Cold | Oradell | NJ |
S | 0.9243 | Jerrin | Thompson | Mild | Lufkin | TX |
S | 0.9233 | Eric | Reed | Cold | Shreveport | LA |
S | 0.9194 | Kristian | Story | Cold | Lanett | AL |
S | 0.9160 | Makari | Paige | Cold | West Bloomfield | MI |
S | 0.9022 | Malcolm | Greene | Mild | Highland Springs | VA |
S | 0.8937 | RJ | Moten | Cool | Delran | NJ |
S | 0.8839 | Mordecai | McDaniel | Cold | Washington | DC |
S | 0.8678 | Elijah | Gaines | Cool | Alexandria | VA |
S | 0.8958 | Christian | Gonzalez | Mild | The Colony | TX |
S | 0.8627 | Ricky | Hyatt | Cold | Westerville | OH |
S | 0.8366 | Jordan | Addison | Mild | Frederick | MD |
SDE | 0.9471 | Jay | Hardy | Cold | Chattanooga | TN |
SDE | 0.9466 | Myles | Murphy | Cold | Greensboro | NC |
SDE | 0.9459 | Tyler | Baron | Cold | Knoxville | TN |
SDE | 0.9223 | Alfred | Collins | Cold | Bastrop | TX |
SDE | 0.9073 | Xavier | Carlton | Cold | Draper | UT |
SDE | 0.8688 | Deontae | Craig | Cold | Culver | IN |
WDE | 0.9944 | Arik | Gilbert | Cold | Marietta | GA |
WDE | 0.9775 | Noah | Sewell | Cold | Orem | UT |
WDE | 0.9583 | Chantz | Williams | Cold | Orange Park | FL |
WDE | 0.9407 | Antwuan | Powell | Cold | Portsmouth | VA |
WDE | 0.9086 | DJ | Rogers | Cold | Sammamish | WA |
WDE | 0.8884 | Eric | Shaw | Cold | Notasulga | AL |
WDE | 0.8789 | Ben | Yurosek | Cold | Bakersfield | CA |
WDE | 0.8739 | Cam | Large | Cold | Dedham | MA |
WDE | 0.8668 | Mitchell | Melton | Mild | Olney | MD |
WDE | 0.8627 | Jalen | Logan-Redding | Cold | Columbia | MO |
WDE | 0.8466 | Jared | Ivey | Cold | Suwanee | GA |
Cornerback
Commits: Clarence Lewis (.8647)
Slots: 2-3
To begin, the Irish unfortunately missed out on Clark Phillips (0.9750), their top CB target. It’s a fairly disappointing miss as he was the last remaining big-time prospect on the board. Unless another big name pops up in the future, Todd Lyght and the staff will have to rely on recruiting some lesser ranked athletes who they can develop with time.
As mentioned, Clarence Lewis (0.8647) committed on June 10th to get the ball rolling in the secondary. He is an athletic, long corner who has the chance to develop into a really good one.
Caleb Offord (0.8678) is a new offer out of Southaven, MS. At 6’1, he is another lengthy option at CB and is a strong academic student. His offer list isn’t extremely strong with Arkansas, Duke, Purdue, and Kentucky being other main schools. However, the ND staff has evaluated him and is comfortable taking him if he’s ready to pop. Offord will officially visit the Irish this weekend and plans to make his commitment on July 4th. It is quite likely that Offord will be the next commitment for the Fighting Irish.
Will Nixon (0.8738) is another recruit who will be officially visiting this weekend. Notre Dame is one of the only schools recruiting the Texas native as a cornerback, but he is more than open to the idea of it. Although he’s on the smaller end, Nixon is a superb athlete, and it will be interesting to see where he stands with the Irish following the weekend.
Landon Bartleson (0.8566) will also be officially visiting on this busy weekend in South Bend. Although ND has perceivably led in his recruitment, the coaching staff may choose to slow play him for the foreseeable future.
Offensive target Xavier Watts (0.8728) from Omaha, NE also has the potential to play CB and could very likely be a part of ND’s class by the end of summer.
Lovie Jenkins (0.8656) was removed from the board as the Irish staff decided to move in a different direction with the aforementioned group, and he quickly committed to Tennessee on June 12th.
Ethan Pouncey (0.9314) has also eliminated Notre Dame from his list of teams. He is considering Alabama, Auburn, Florida, LSU, and Texas.
Safety
Commits: None
Slots 2-3
Lathan Ransom (0.9625) took his official visit to Notre Dame on June 8th and had glowing things to say afterwards. With that being said, he visited Texas last weekend and will visit Ohio State this weekend. Some reports have indicated Notre Dame has a real chance, but I would be extremely surprised if the Irish were able to pull it off.
Christian Gonzalez (0.8958) officially visits this weekend and is an intriguing prospect for the Irish. Since his Notre Dame offer in February, he has added offers from Alabama, Ohio State, Miami, Michigan State, Arizona State, and Ole Miss amongst others. Gonzalez is a kid who could play either S or CB, which makes his official visit slightly more important.
Jerrin Thompson (0.9243), Malcolm Greene (.9022), and RJ Moten (0.8937) are other prospects that the Irish staff are hoping to gain traction with.
Alaka’i Gilman (0.8566), brother of Alohi, recently camped at Irish Invasion and performed well, but is still awaiting an offer. At this point, the coaching staff will likely wait and see with some other prospects before offering, but Gilman is a guy to keep an eye on moving forward.
Eric Reed (0.9233) committed to Ole Miss on June 18th.
Jordan Morant (0.9368) trimmed down his list of schools and is no longer considering Notre Dame.
Defensive Tackle
Commits: Aidan Keanaaina (.8871)
Slots: 1
Keanaaina remains a massive (literally and figuratively) fit as a future DT, and the Irish are finished at the position with Rylie Mills being a likely candidate to move to 3-Tech, as well.
Defensive End
Commits: Jordan Botelho (.9471), Rylie Mills (.9412), Alexander Ehrensberger (.8413)
Slots: 3-4
With three commits already, the ND staff is looking to add one final piece to the defensive line, and Mitchell Melton (0.8668) is at the very top of the board. It will be a three team race for his services as he has officially visited Notre Dame, Ohio State, and visits Michigan this weekend. Melton is scheduled to announce his commitment on July 3rd. Although it’s up in the air, ND feels decent about their chances, but so do Ohio State and Michigan.
If things fall through with Melton, Phillip Webb (0.9781) is a name to keep tabs on as he included Notre Dame in his Top 11. He could potentially visit sometime in the fall.
Cam Large (0.8739), a former target, recently trimmed down his list of schools to Wisconsin, Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio State.
Ben Yurosek (0.8789) is another former target who has his list down to Stanford, UCLA, and Washington. He hopes to commit by the end of June, and Stanford is the most likely destination.
Linebacker
Commits: None
Slots: 0-1
As has been the case, Cody Simon (0.9374) remains the lone potential target for the time being. It is unclear if the staff will push for him or continue to slow play the recruitment, and it may be contingent on Mitchell Melton’s decision.
Finally, Notre Dame has mutually parted ways with defensive athlete Cullen Coleman (0.8728). The Irish led in his recruitment, but they have decided to move in a different direction defensively, primarily in pursuit of Melton. He will officially visit Northwestern this weekend rather than Notre Dame.
Recap
Overall, ND is in the midst of a great recruiting run, especially with the flurry of commits last week. The defensive line is looking to add one more pass rusher, but they already have a solidified group with a lot of expected talent. At linebacker, the coaching staff will have to decide whether they want to push for Simon, but it’s simply not a huge position need after the 2019 cycle. As evident, the defensive back position is by far the biggest question mark moving forward. With Lewis committed, the staff will likely want to add four more guys before it’s all said and done. I think Offord is a good bet to join the class soon, but who will the staff take beyond that? Will they choose to slow play Bartleson or Nixon and hope to catch a bigger fish down the line? We should know more by the end of the weekend, but in the meantime, let’s enjoy this exciting run and hope for continued prosperity in our recruiting world!
With Webb’s ranking, why is ND waiting to see what Melton does ? 247 has him 100% to Clemson anyways. Similarly Cody Simon?
Webb is a more recent development than Simon, but it could be a case of the staff feeling good about Melton’s ceiling and being comfortable wrapping it up on DL this summer if it’s possible with him. They might kick the tires with Webb but might not want to put all their eggs in that basket.
With Simon, it’s mostly a numbers game. I’m of the opinion that he should be a take all the way, but with five promising LB’s in last class, the staff doesn’t seem too concerned about filling a spot at this point.
How often are we in a position to turn down a top 150 player (Simon is 154 right now)? I’m of the opinion that we should probably never do that. If there is a top 150 talent that wants to come to ND, we take him and operate slightly under the ideal numbers somewhere else if necessary.
Don’t disagree with you necessarily. Things are now looking like Melton is leaning Michigan, so it’ll be interesting to see if they push for Simon any differently. With that being said, it’s a testament to the upswing in our recruiting compared to recent history.
Should we be concerned that 247 no longer has him as warm but as cool and has nebraska and ohio state as warm? Even if we pushed for him now would it be too late?
True! “With that being said, it’s a testament to the upswing in our recruiting compared to recent history.”
You guys have gotten lazy. Haven’t written a commitment post in like 4 days.
Patience. We’ll have another one later today.
Did I miss something regarding Clark Phillips? I thought he doesn’t announce until this afternoon. Did he tweet something that removed ND from the conversation? I know he’s much more likely to end up at UCLA or OSU; is that what we’re assuming?
He does announce later today, and there’s no rumor of a silent commitment, but it would utterly astound everyone who has reported on his recruitment if he ended up anywhere but Ohio State. ND was trying to get him to take a fall OV and he wanted to make a summer decision. Haven’t seen any explanation of the strategy, but I think it’s because the staff felt a summer OV to ND followed by a summer OV to OSU would result in a loss and they wanted him to see the gameday environment.
Ah, that makes sense. And everyone who has reported on his recruitment was correct!
It makes sense from a recruiting cycle point of view that we’re waiting to offer Alaka’i Gilman. I don’t really like doing that to a recruit that seems like a good kid and has ties to ND, but it makes sense.
The best part of his recruitment though is that he’s holding an offer from USC already and just sitting on it waiting for a better offer — one from Notre Dame. Awesome.
The DB situation remains massively disappointing, especially after the success the staff had developing Love and the safeties.
Need to have Jeff Quinn move to DB recruiting.
We are in much better shape wrt DB recruiting than we were a month ago. I think we’ll be ok this cycle, although our DB haul likely won’t wow anyone.
We also have 4 blue-chip freshman DBs on campus right now as well.
From the way Kyle Hamilton is spoken of, one would think he should be able to hold down a couple of positions all on his own!
Fitting, given that the ISD guys said an on-campus source told them he has athleticism reminiscent of the Godbacker himself.