The proximity of another NCAA dead period – from June 26th to August 28th, prospects can’t meet staff on or off campus – feels like a natural time for us to review the Big Board again. When we last got together we touted the possibility of 2023 being arguably the best class of the internet era for Notre Dame as measured by average 247 Composite score for the class’s commits. The outlook is slightly foggier now that we’re farther along in the cycle, somewhat counterintuitively, but it’s still quite good. Our “reasonable” closing scenario puts the class average at 0.9377, comfortably ahead of 2008’s high water mark of 0.9310; our “pessimistic” scenario puts the class average at 0.9294, a little behind 2008 but well above Brian Kelly’s peak of 0.9230 in the 2013 class. To fall behind the 2013 class, the staff would need to surprisingly whiff on a number of prospects and lose a batch of the highest rated recruits in the class without replacing them.

If we pivot to 247 Composite class score, the reasonable scenario yields a score of 307.43 – that would’ve ranked between second and fourth in any of the past ten cycles. The scenario includes 11 additional members of the 2023 class; we just upgraded six of those 11 to “Hot” on the Big Board, and a seventh is already in the 2024 class and considering reclassifying. Three more prospects are currently “Warm.” Big things are afoot, my friends.

The Board

A reminder on how we do this – we’ll include the entire big board table but only review prospects who are above “Cold” status and who have had actual developments of late. Speaking of which, the temperature scale:

  • Hot means the prospect is on commit watch.
  • Warm means the prospect has Notre Dame in a small final group and/or is a possible Irish lean.
  • Mild/Mild+ means the prospect is in regular contact with the staff and has visited or has firm visit plans.
  • Cool means the prospect has some level of contact with the staff and/or vague visit plans; also the default temperature for most new offers.
  • Cold is a known (or reasonably safely assumed) lack of contact with the staff and/or an elimination.

Also, on the 247 Composite scores: Roughly speaking above .9830 is a five star, above .9500 is a top 100 prospect, above .9200 is a top 200 prospect, and above .8900 is a four star. Those slide around a little within a cycle and from one cycle to the next, but they’re pretty solid ballpark numbers.

Remember that of course we don’t have perfect information on all prospects – we don’t know for sure whether a prospect has or hasn’t talked to the staff outside of what’s reported elsewhere. We don’t know for sure how high prospects are on the staff’s board or on other staffs’ boards. We try to make educated guesses at all of it, but we don’t know.

Unit Position Name 247C Temp
O IOL Harris Sewell 0.9646 Cold
O IOL Markis Deal 0.9521 Cold
O IOL TJ Shanahan 0.9381 Cold
O OT Kadyn Proctor 0.9952 Cold
O OT Samson Okunlola 0.9887 Cold
O OT Charles Jagusah 0.9752 Hot
O OT Chase Bisontis 0.9723 Cold
O OT Monroe Freeling 0.9699 Mild+
O OT Cayden Green 0.9552 Cold
O OT Vysen Lang 0.8767 Cold
O OT Koby Keenum 0.8626 Cold
O QB Arch Manning 1.0000 Cold
O QB Dante Moore 0.9942 Mild
O QB Avery Johnson 0.9194 Cold
O RB Richard Young 0.9874 Mild
O RB Cedric Baxter 0.9791 Cold
O RB Justice Haynes 0.9759 Cold
O RB Jeremiyah Love 0.9646 Warm
O RB Treyaun Webb 0.9324 Cold
O RB Sedrick Irvin 0.8900 Cold
O TE Duce Robinson 0.9902 Cold
O TE Jaxon Howard 0.9540 Cold
O WR Brandon Inniss 0.9897 Cold
O WR Carnell Tate 0.9858 Cold
O WR Jalen Brown 0.9857 Cold
O WR Johntay Cook 0.9839 Cold
O WR Hykeem Williams 0.9799 Cold
O WR Jaquaize Pettaway 0.9790 Cold
O WR Noah Rogers 0.9769 Cold
O WR Jalen Hale 0.9717 Cold
O WR Dalton Brooks 0.9691 Cold
O WR Nathaniel Joseph 0.9506 Cool
O WR Jaden Greathouse 0.9478 Hot
O WR Aidan Mizell 0.9471 Cold
O WR Tyler Williams 0.9354 Cold
O WR Micah Tease 0.9345 Mild+
O WR Rico Flores 0.9246 Hot
O WR Christian Hamilton 0.9196 Cold
O WR Joshua Manning 0.9074 Cool
O WR Malik Elzy 0.9049 Cool
O WR Ronan Hanafin 0.8967 Hot
D CB Tony Mitchell 0.9903 Cold
D CB Javien Toviano 0.9876 Cold
D CB Malik Muhammad 0.9833 Cold
D CB Caleb Presley 0.9633 Cold
D CB Christian Gray 0.9543 Hot
D CB Micah Bell 0.9451 Hot
D CB Kayin Lee 0.9373 Cold
D CB Calvin Simpson-Hunt 0.9289 Cold
D CB Jasiah Wagoner 0.9255 Warm
D CB Sharif Denson 0.9204 Cold
D CB Ethan Nation 0.9135 Cold
D CB Jyaire Hill 0.9033 Cold
D DL David Hicks 0.9965 Cold
D DL Peter Woods 0.9875 Cold
D DL Jason Moore 0.9761 Warm
D DL Derrick LeBlanc 0.9634 Cold
D DL Keldric Faulk 0.9604 Cold
D DL John Walker 0.9537 Cold
D DL Hunter Osborne 0.9482 Cold
D DL Xzavier McLeod 0.9323 Cold
D DL Jalen Thompson 0.9208 Cold
D DL Stephiylan Green 0.9194 Cold
D DL Kendrick Gilbert 0.9035 Cold
D DL Ashton Sanders 0.8719 Cold
D DL Stantavious Smith 0.8519 Cold
D EDGE Matayo Uiagalelei 0.9878 Cold
D EDGE Samuel M’Pemba 0.9864 Mild+
D EDGE Chandavian Bradley 0.9836 Cold
D EDGE Jayden Wayne 0.9815 Cold
D EDGE Ta’Mere Robinson 0.9394 Cold
D EDGE Desmond Umeozulu 0.9392 Cold
D EDGE Derion Gullette 0.9382 Cold
D EDGE Dylan Gooden 0.9319 Cold
D EDGE Colton Vasek 0.9283 Cold
D EDGE Neeo Avery 0.9203 Cold
D EDGE Kennedy McDowell 0.0000 Cold
D LB Nyckoles Harbor 0.9956 Cold
D LB Anthony Hill 0.9905 Cold
D LB Troy Bowles 0.9797 Cold
D LB Malik Bryant 0.9778 Cold
D LB Jaiden Ausberry 0.9659 Warm
D LB Raylen Wilson 0.9645 Cold
D LB Tackett Curtis 0.9619 Cold
D LB Tony Rojas 0.9382 Cold
D LB Jayvant Brown 0.9195 Cold
D LB Jaden Robinson 0.8933 Cold
D LB Phil Picciotti 0.8858 Cold
D S Caleb Downs 0.9950 Mild+
D S Joenel Aguero 0.9840 Cold
D S Derek Williams 0.9835 Cold
D S Mikal Harrison-Pilot 0.9414 Cold
D S Isaac Smith 0.9339 Cold
D S Rahmir Stewart 0.9128 Cold
D S Daemon Fagan 0.9112 Cold
D S King Mack 0.8964 Cold

New to the Board

  • WR Nathaniel Joseph, 0.9506, decommitted from Clemson
  • IOL Joe Otting, 0.8752, new offer

Off the Board

  • RB Rueben Owens, 0.9902, Louisville
  • WR Carnell Tate, 0.9858, Ohio State
  • DL Vic Burley, 0.9816, Clemson
  • WR DeAndre Moore, 0.9720, Louisville
  • WR Rodney Gallagher, 0.9453, West Virginia
  • DL Avion Carter, 0.9324, TCU
  • LB Jordan Hall, 0.9216, Michigan… State (lololol, Skunkbears stink)
  • RB Jayden Limar, 0.9015, Notre Dame
  • OT Elijah Paige, 0.8985, Notre Dame
  • LB Tre Edwards, 0.8950, UCLA
  • CB Amare Snowden, 0.8947, Cincinnati
  • RB Marquese Williams, 0.8819, Minnesota
  • IOL Joe Otting, 0.8752, Notre Dame

Quarterback

Commits: None
Slots: 1

The epic saga of ’23 QB recruiting continues… Since we last met, 2024 five-star QB and, I dunno, like octuple Michigan legacy CJ Carr committed to Notre Dame in an announcement ceremony that featured an adorable photo op of him putting a Notre Dame hat on his grandpa’s head. Aww. (Heh.)

But I digress. Well, sort of… Landing a 2024 QB before a 2023 QB seems a bit unorthodox, but then little if any of top ’23 target Dante Moore‘s recruitment has played out in an orthodox manner. Moore’s recruitment has gone on longer than the Irish staff expected it would and they apparently weren’t willing to tell Carr to hold off on committing, which if you’ve checked out his film (sophomore film!) is hardly surprising. Moore and Carr are both from Michigan – Moore from Detroit and Carr from Saline, literally minutes from Ann Arbor – and have played on the same 7-on-7 team for a while. There were early rumors that they wouldn’t want to land at the same school, then rumors that they didn’t care, then rumors that taking Carr may have upset the apple cart with Moore, then more rumors about the veracity of those rumors.

Moore, who Florida at one point more or less gave up on because they didn’t believe he wanted to leave the Midwest, just took an unofficial visit to Texas A&M and is headed to Oregon for an unofficial this weekend. Despite all his travels and a professed exhaustion with the recruiting process back in March, most of his visits have been unofficials – he has only used two official visits, one to Oregon and one to LSU – which suggests we’re not that close to the end of the process after all. Depending on who you ask, maybe Oregon leads, maybe LSU leads, maybe A&M leads, maybe ND leads, maybe nobody leads. In March it seemed like things would be over in a matter of weeks, in April his camp started talking about using all his OVs in the spring so he could have some fun, in May things shifted to a decision in late fall after seeing how everyone looked on the field, and more recently Dante himself has suggested a late summer decision may come as he’s getting tired of the process again.

As with so many of the details of Moore’s recruitment, we think everyone up to and including the recruiting services and maybe even the various coaching staffs involved don’t have a clear picture of exactly what the key factors are or what direction it’s headed in. What is clear though is that the Notre Dame staff very much wanted Carr in the fold and wanted to wrap that up as soon as they could. Complicating any projection is the recent development of the possibility for Carr to reclassify to 2023; counter to Notre Dame precedent, there are conversations happening about that and we believe it may be on the table if Carr wants to do it. If he does (which we still believe is a big if at this point), that would most definitely close down ’23 QB recruiting and of course simultaneously re-open ’24 QB recruiting. If Moore goes elsewhere and Carr stays in the 2024 class, it’s anyone’s guess where ’23 QB recruiting goes but we’re sure the staff will try to take someone.

So where would we suggest you lay your money in this race? Easy. Nowhere! Everything about this still feels extremely fluid to us and we suspect we won’t have more clarity on it until later in the summer, possibly even into the season. Stay tuned.

Running Back

Commits: Jayden Limar, 0.9015, #317 overall/#19 position
Slots: 2-3

Jayden Limar, as expected, committed to Notre Dame shortly after our initial Big Board update. He invites comparisons to Kyren Williams, although he comes in a little taller and a little leaner than Kyren did. He just took his official visit for the June 10th mega recruiting event and seems very much locked in with the Irish… Jeremiyah Love is now the #72 overall prospect in the 247 Composite. When the staff first offered him in February, he was ranked #526 overall; almost like they know what they’re doing… The usual heavy hitters are after Love, who boasts Chris Tyree level speed with more shiftiness; helping the Irish, he’s very much a high academic student who understands the value of the full package that Notre Dame is uniquely positioned to offer in the current college football landscape…

Five-star Richard Young dropped in for a midweek official visit last week and, while he’ll no doubt be a tremendously difficult pull from the South, we do believe the Irish are more than a hat on the table here. Since he was in town by himself he got a ton of one-on-one time with Marcus Freeman and Deland McCullough, even catching a ride in Freeman’s new Ferrari to scope out the Bend and get lined up by Julio. Freeman is a crafty, crafty dude, man. Watch for whether Young schedules a return visit for a game.

Wide Receiver

Commits: Braylon James, 0.9454, #117/#19 position
Slots: 4-5

Braylon James was part of the big June 10th weekend as well, essentially acting as an extra staff member. He was everywhere and was mentioned by several uncommitted prospects as a guy they really connected with. He also took a big tumble in the Composite rankings when 247 included the On3 rankings, which have him #245 overall, and the latest Rivals update, which dropped him from #77 to #205 in their rankings. LOL…

Nathaniel Joseph technically returns to the board after decommitting from Clemson, and we’ll keep him as “Cool” as we usually do with decommits until we have firm reason to do otherwise, but we’d be stunned if he gets out of Florida… Jaden Greathouse was part of the smaller but still impactful June 17th weekend. He has held Notre Dame and Chansi Stuckey in high regard for a long time, and we have no reason to believe that’s different after his visit. He was supposed to visit Texas this upcoming weekend, but word just came out that he won’t make that visit after all. Hmm…

Micah Tease and Rico Flores were also in town on June 10th. Tease is a tough one to read, in large part because it’s hard to know which side of the ball is pushing for him. He definitely has potential at corner but has stated a preference for offense, where he would likely be in the slot. There were positive vibes about his experience on campus but, again, the final position throws some clouds over things…

Flores, meanwhile, posted a final three of Notre Dame, Georgia, and Ohio State before visiting – and then canceled his Georgia visit after visiting. He’s set to visit Ohio State this weekend, which is a big one as landing him may be dependent on Ohio State missing a guy. Nonetheless, for now we really like Notre Dame’s chances. He set an announcement date of July 3rd…

Ronan Hanafin was, again, in town for the big June 10th weekend. He had an official visit to Clemson the weekend before, just finished an official to Alabama, and has an official to Boston College coming up this weekend. We expect he’ll be in decision mode shortly after and we see no reason to change the optimism we’ve had here since the Irish offered.

Tight End

Commits: Cooper Flanagan, 0.9143, #239 overall/#13 position
Slots: 1

Offensive Line

Commits: OT Sullivan Absher, 0.9232, #191 overall/#19 position; Elijah Paige, 0.8985, #335 overall/#29 position; IOL Sam Pendleton, 0.8933, #378 overall/#20 position; IOL Joe Otting, 0.8752, #591 overall/#42 position
Slots: 5-6

Last time we met, we said this:

We think that Elijah Paige, who will take an official on June 3rd (subversive!), and Joe Otting, who has drawn from interest from Hiestand and will camp in hopes of an offer this summer, may have to wait on other guys.

Which shows you how much you should listen to us… It would seem that the staff holds Paige in very high regard. In 247’s own rankings he’s now almost 400 spots higher than he was a month ago and expected to keep rising, so it’s likely that our previous opinion will look further afield as time goes on… Otting projects as a center and a guy that again Harry Hiestand really likes.

We know six offensive linemen in one class sounds like a lot (to everyone except Murtaugh, anyway), but it seems that the staff would still be willing to take top 100 tackles Charles Jagusah and Monroe Freeling. Jagusah just finished a round of official visits, the last one to Notre Dame just a few days ago, and could be ready to decide at sometime in the next few weeks. He has kept his entire recruitment very close to his vest but we feel good here… Freeling has connected with Absher and Pendleton, all Carolina kids, and made a big impression on his official on June 10th. His decision seems farther off though, and pulling him away from Clemson and Georgia may prove difficult.

Defensive Line

Commits: EDGE Keon Keeley, 0.9955, #8 overall/#1 position; DL Brenan Vernon, 0.9532, #99 overall/#12 position; DL Boubacar Traore, 0.9440, #123 overall/#18 position; DL Devan Houstan, 0.9187, #216 overall/#32 position
Slots: 4-5

The final target here is near-top-50 prospect Jason Moore, who also visited on June 10th. Like Jagusah, he has been fairly hard to read throughout; also like Jagusah, the tea leaves seem to point in Notre Dame’s direction right now. He just took an official visit to Michigan and has one to Ohio State lined up this weekend, but neither of those is the real competition – Penn State is the program to keep an eye on. We do think the Irish are in good shape here for a possible summer decision, but it’s likely very close with the Nittany Lions. For some reason.

Linebackers

Commits: Drayk Bowen, 0.9635, #76 overall/#6 position; Preston Zinter, 0.8877, #425 overall/#37 position
Slots: 3-4

Notre Dame is still on five-star Samuel M’Pemba‘s  radar and likely will be well into the fall. I don’t think there’s a clear picture of who leads for the St. Louis product and current IMG student, but it’s safe to assume at this point that Alabama, Georgia, and Miami will be the main competition for him. He’s a take no matter who else is in the boat and no matter when he wants to decide, so expect the staff to stay on him…

Jaiden Ausberry was also on campus for the big June 10th event; 247 national analyst Steve Wiltfong put in a “crystal ball” prediction for him to Notre Dame shortly after that visit ended. Ausberry just finished an official visit to Texas A&M and has one to Michigan coming up this weekend. He has talked about announcing in December.

Defensive Backs

Commits: S Peyton Bowen, 0.9763, #51 overall/#4 position; S Adon Shuler, 0.9179, #221 overall/#16 position

We’ve skipped over current commits for the most part, but it’s worth noting here that Peyton Bowen, who visited on June 10th and very much looked like a locked-in member of the class, was rumored to be considering visits to Michigan and Oregon last weekend and made neither…

Caleb Downs was part of that same weekend and by all accounts things went well. Like Jagusah and Moore, though, he’s been a very difficult read. Unlike them, there’s no cause today to believe Notre Dame leads although they are legitimately in the race. His official was his fourth visit to Notre Dame, which clearly tells us there’s some level of interest there. Ohio State, where he will official this weekend, is likely the main competitor, with no clear decision timeline as of today…

Christian Gray‘s recruitment shifted a bit when LSU hired his former high school coach and mentor Robert Steeples, but after his official on (guess when – go ahead, guess!) it looks like Notre Dame is firmly in the driver’s seat. He was supposed to take an official visit to USC this past weekend but never made it. He’s also supposed to visit Ohio State this weekend ahead of his Independence Day announcement. If he also doesn’t make it there, well, feel free to connect the dots… Micah Bell, bucking the trend, visited on June 17th. He hasn’t visited anyone else and has an announcement scheduled for July 1st. Again, enjoy the dots…

Jasiah Wagoner also visited last weekend and things reportedly went very well. He’s earlier in the process than Gray and Bell; that was his first official, with a second scheduled this weekend to Washington. He has talked about targeting a fall decision; if July opens the way we think it will for the Irish, it’ll be interesting to watch whether there’s room in the class for this four-star corner. Again, crazy times.

Scenario Tracking

Reasonable close – 11 prospects:

  • QB CJ Carr (reclassified from ’24)
  • RB/WR Jeremiyah Love
  • WR Jaden Greathouse
  • WR/CB Micah Tease
  • WR Rico Flores
  • WR Ronan Hanafin
  • OT Charles Jagusah
  • DL Jason Moore
  • LB Jaiden Ausberry
  • CB Christian Gray
  • CB Micah Bell

Optimistic close – 14 prospects:

  • QB Dante Moore
  • RB Richard Young
  • RB/WR Jeremiyah Love
  • WR Jaden Greathouse
  • WR Rico Flores
  • WR Ronan Hanafin
  • OT Charles Jagusah
  • OT Monroe Freeling
  • DL Jason Moore
  • LB Samuel M’Pemba
  • LB Jaiden Ausberry
  • CB Christian Gray
  • CB Micah Bell
  • S Caleb Downs

Pessimistic close – 7 prospects:

  • QB Brock Glenn (or similar)
  • WR Jaden Greathouse
  • WR Rico Flores
  • WR Ronan Hanafin
  • OT Charles Jagusah
  • CB Christian Gray
  • CB Micah Bell