Our last scholarship post came in the middle of spring practice during a time when recruiting was slowing down a little bit. Since then, things have picked up considerably, especially in the current 2023 class, as we continue the trend of nearly finishing an entire class a few months before the Early Signing Period begins in December shortly before Christmas.
If you’re new here, check out our live scholarship tracker below. On that sheet you’ll find all the details about players from the graduate seniors to the incoming 2023 recruiting class.
***18 Stripes Scholarship Tracker CLICK HERE***
Out of Eligibility Following 2022:
WR Avery Davis
OL Josh Lugg
DT Jayson Ademilola
DT Chris Smith
LB Bo Bauer
CB Tariq Bracy
S Houston Griffith
In case you missed it, Notre Dame picked up Harvard transfer Chris Smith back in early April. He was not with the program for spring practice but should be well on his way to experiencing South Bend now during summer workouts.
We sometimes have confusion about the names listed above. These are the players who 100% cannot come back for 2023 barring any extreme NCAA eligibility extension from an injury or something like that. Even with the extra Covid season, these players are done after 2022.
2023-24 Academic Classes
19 Verbal Commits
22 Sophomores
23 Juniors
14 Seniors
19 Graduates
97 Total Scholarships
Wait, 97 scholarships we are way over the limit!??
That numbers will balloon up to 103 scholarships or so over the next couple months. Then we will slowly see that number begin to come down as players announce transfers, or medical issues, or early entries into the NFL.
Since our last update in April, running back Gi’Bran Payne became a super late commit to the 2022 class and thankfully so as the depth at this position has taken a hit with injuries to Logan Diggs and Jadarian Price.
We’ve also seen the following 2023 commits since mid-April:
April 19th
WR Braylon James 0.9454
April 25th
IOL Sam Pendleton 0.8933
April 27th
DT Boubacar Traore 0.9440
May 7th
DL Devan Houstan 0.9184
May 13th
OT Sullivan Absher 0.9231
May 26th
RB Jayden Limar 0.9015
June 7th
IOL Joe Otting 0.8781
June 10th
OT Elijah Page 0.8986
June 30th
OT Charles Jagusah 0.9752
July 1st
CB Micah Bell 0.9451
July 3rd
WR Rico Flores 0.9246
July 4th
CB Christian Gray 0.9542
That’s a fun list. We’ve also seen all 5 of the current 2024 commits give their pledge to Notre Dame since our last update. That includes quarterback CJ Carr (header photo) who continues to mull over a decision on whether to reclassify to 2023 or not. More on this below.
List of Eligible 2023 Grad Students
* Indicates no redshirt, 2023 eligible only due to Covid.
$ Indicates 6th-year 2023 eligible due to Covid.
# Indicates regular 5th-year eligible for 2023 but also 6th-year eligible for 2024 due to Covid.
Tier 1
DE Isaiah Foskey #
C Jarrett Patterson $
CB Cam Hart #
LB Marist Liufau #
LB Jack Kiser #
DE Justin Ademilola $
DT Howard Cross #
DT Jacob Lacey *
C Zeke Correll #
WR Braden Lenzy $
LB JD Bertrand #
OG Andrew Kristofic #
We saw so little action this past spring and didn’t get a good look at the roster, especially with so many injuries. However, Kristofic and Bertrand have dropped down on our Tier 1 list.
There have been rumors that Patterson is going to be moving to guard to open the starting center job for Correll. This could mean Kristofic isn’t starting anymore and may not see the field that much.
Similarly, JD Bertrand moved to Mike linebacker this spring but most of the talk is about Bo Bauer finally ascending to a starting job.
Tier 2
DE NaNa Osafo-Mensah #
WR Joe Wilkins $
S DJ Brown $
My thoughts for Osafo-Mensah are the same now as back in April: It’s perhaps harsh to put NaNa down in this category as he’s nominally a backup at strong-side end. Still, he’s relatively inexperienced and has a lot to prove.
I don’t believe Joe Wilkins is expected to be ready and healthy to start the 2022 season. Like Brown, he may end up in a category of solid players who have made a few plays throughout their career but are not expected to come back in 2023.
Tier 3
DE Osita Ekwonu #
WR Matt Salerno $
LS Michael Vinson $
Notre Dame gave scholarships to Salerno and Vinson earlier this year. Ekwonu has bounced around positions seemingly every half year. That’s not a good long-term plan.
2023 Positional Needs
Primary Focus: WR, RB, LB
Barring a surprise coming up soon it seems like Notre Dame will take, at most, 7 more players in the 2023 recruiting class. They remain zeroed in on receiver Jaden Greathouse and athlete/receiver Ronan Hanafin to plug the biggest weaknesses on the roster.
Also, Jeremiyah Love remains an extremely important target at running back.
No doubt, the staff is keen on adding linebacker Jaiden Ausberry out of Louisiana. If Notre Dame reels in all 4 of these players that puts the class team score at 296.51 points in the 247 Sports calculator which would’ve landed 5th nationally in the 2022 rankings.
Secondary Focus: QB, Edge, S
Notre Dame continues to dig for safety Caleb Downs and edge rusher Samuel M’Pemba which are far from easy targets, although you never know maybe we are in for a surprise at some point in the future.
With the “loss” of Dante Moore to Oregon all eyes have been on the quarterback situation. Friend of 18S Jamie Uyeyama recently highlighted the following potential options for Notre Dame:
Austin Novosad
0.9102
6-3, 185
Dripping Springs, TX
Status: Baylor commit
Offered: Yes
Rickie Collins
0.9204
6-2, 190
Baton Rouge, LA
Status: Purdue commit
Offered: No
Brock Glenn
0.8980
6-2, 195
Memphis, TN
Status: FSU heavy lean
Offered: No
Chris Parson
0.8994
6-0, 200
Brentwood, TN
Status: Recent FSU decommit, Miss State heavy lean
Offered: No
JJ Kohl
0.9081
6-6, 227
Ankeny, IA
Status: Iowa State commit
Offered: No
Kenny Minchey
0.8993
6-1, 207
Hendersonville, TN
Status: Pitt commit
Offered: No
Notre Dame is in a tricky spot now. They put so much effort into corralling Moore then snatching up CJ Carr for 2024 that options are extremely limited for 2023 now. There are only 2 quarterbacks in the top 33 of this position in the Composite not to be committed and that could be zero any day now.
I personally like Minchey a lot and think he’d be a worthy “consolation” prize for 2023. He goes to the same school as Golden Tate and Taylor Swift’s brother Austin who also attended Notre Dame. That’s a nice little pipeline!
I don’t love the idea of Carr reclassifying even if he is older for his grade and should be entering his senior season. As a Tyler Buchner Believer (TBB gang) and with Peanut Butter Angeli looking to be a steal (relative to his recruiting ranking) I don’t feel a rush to grab a body for 2023 just to grab a body.
What really stings and makes me question that approach is the belief that once a recruit enrolls at another school it’ll be very difficult for them to transfer into Notre Dame, at least early in their career.
For example, let’s say Rickie Collins is still well thought of at Notre Dame but gets frustrated at Purdue in October of his freshman season. It’s probably an uphill battle to get him to transfer to the Irish in January 2024 to effectively “get” one of your 2023 targets after the fact. Whereas many other schools are going to continue going down this route with roster holes. As such, Freeman should probably work hard at bringing someone in for 2023 in the next 2-3 months.
If we could turn off injuries or transfers, then no need for a QB in 2023. But it’s risky to roll with just Buchner and Angeli (and RP3), assuming Pyne does a grad transfer next year.
If Angeli is P5 starter caliber, then it’s not crazy to think he could transfer, seeing a 5 star come in behind him, and we could be sitting in ’24 with just Buchner and Carr (and RP3).
Take a QB every year.
Wait if Pyne is a grad student next year – is he the one name missing from the list above?
But agreed that he could easily transfer leaving – at best – two scholarship QBs for 2023. That’s dicey to begin with. (O wait, does Powlus “count” as a “scholarship” QB?
Yeah, I think the conventional wisdom is at this point that Pyne will grad transfer out prior to the 2023 football season.
I don’t see why getting Carr to come to Notre Dame in June 2023 instead of January 2024 doesn’t solve any QB issues and questions on all fronts. For the team that totally should be the play. From the kid and family perspective, if they think it best to delay, that would be completely understandable and something to live with.
But to me it seems pretty open and shut on how to solve a lot the QB “problems” in 2023 before they even start, regardless of what happens to any of the other guys– just bring in Carr.
It is definitely best from ND’s perspective to get Carr to come in the 2023 class (especially since it sounds like another elite 2024 QB would want to come to ND) but I’m not getting the sense Carr thinks it is best for him – which is why they’ve offered another 2023 QB.
Maybe, maybe not. Could just as easily be their due diligence as a contingency. The Carr decision hasn’t been made, so Notre Dame needs to lay some groundwork elsewhere in case Carr does decide to stay in the 2024 class. They offered a committed QB, so it’s not like they expected him to accept on the spot, just opening more options down the road for both of them…Maybe.
How many of those post 4th year players will come back?
My back-of-the-napkin guess:
CB Cam Hart #
LB Marist Liufau #
LB Jack Kiser #
DT Howard Cross #
DT Jacob Lacey *
C Zeke Correll #
OG Andrew Kristofic #
DE NaNa Osafo-Mensah #
Though I’d take Kristofic off the list if it turns out that he doesn’t end up starting this year.
I’d be a little bearish on your list. I’d say Kiser and Correll, sure…Maybe one of Lacey/Cross (with the other moving on or down a level)…Maybe Kristofic…Maybe Nana. I’d probably add Salerno to come back, maybe Milk too just cuz it seems like he’s having too much fun to leave.
IMO, Hart and Liufau are almost certain to leave, but we shall see. I feel like after this year it’s going to be a big exodus and lots of turnover for veteran guys moving on.
I figure DL who are playing a ton of snaps and who wouldn’t be here more than 5 years would come back (Lacey and Cross) if they aren’t 1st or 2nd round picks. I think Nana will turn out to be a key piece this year and play a lot of snaps as a backup.
I’m skeptical Hart will have a year that he’d be a high (1st-3rd) NFL draft pick so I’d think he’d come back. Liufau I think will have a really good year in college but also am skeptical that translates into being a potentially elite NFL player and high draft pick so he’d come back to play a 2nd full season for the Irish.
I don’t think Hart will be a 1st-3rd round pick either, but that also doesn’t mean he’s coming back for a 5th year…He’s not likely to be a 1st-3rd pick after 2023 either. Ditto Liufau. Sometimes it’s just time to move on when a degree is in hand. Not too many players are using the 5th year COVID gave them unless they’re extreme longshots anyways (Hinish, Doerer types).
There could be extenuating reasons that either does stay for 2023, probably due to injury, it’s not impossible, I personally just don’t see it. Don’t have a crystal ball though so time will tell.
Right, but Hart and Liufau would be normal 5th year guys not Covid guys (they could come back for a 6th year with covid)). So in the normal process of things, they’d come back for a 5th year (so they aren’t like Hinish).
You’re right on the semantics of 5th year/COVID, I read that wrong, they would be normal 5th year guys. Logic still holds that I wouldn’t expect either to use the extra year with their aspirations, especially Hart. Future events could change things and the 5th year is open to come back if needed, but I don’t think Hart is on the Tariq Bracy path, he’s a notch better.
Cam and Marist are in very different situations despite being the same class and having similar expectations for this year.
Hart will have had 2 years as a starter, so not sure another one would change his draft stock a lot. If he has a good year, his 40 time will probably be what determines where he goes.
Liufau is a very different story. This will basically be his first year playing. So a good, not great year might get him drafted (like Austin), but a second year of starting could seriously help him. It might not push him into the first round, but it could bump him from a late rounder/UDFA to mid rounder. He also plays a position where another year of physical development would help him more than it would a CB.
We have been hearing the Liufau hype for years, but not sure the NFL is as convinced as we are. As much as I’d love to see him win the Bednarik, I think a Kevin Austin type season is much more likely. That would mean being clearly the best LB on the team, and would be a great season for ND, but not tons of national hype.
Of course, who knows how each will end up playing this year. And even so, lots of guys leave who shouldn’t, and every once in a great while someone stays who could have left as a sure fire pick. Hooray, Foskey!
I don’t disagree completely. But this logic seems to indicate Austin will be back at Notre Dame for 2022, which he is not, and more my feeding to my point about why players move down the road despite having college eligibility. Even when perhaps they shouldn’t.
Te’von Coney came back for his last year, played really well and still didn’t get drafted because of his lateral movement and coverage problems. The NFL isn’t going to care if Liufau has 1 or 2 years of starting time, it’s going to care about his metrics and the data for what they think he can (or can’t) do at the next level. Playing in college in 2023 isn’t likely to alter that course (if anything, it’s only likely to hurt him if he gets hurt), which is why players don’t always exhaust their eligibility.
I meant to say So a good, not great, year might NOT get him drafted (like Austin) Either way, I think it’s pretty clear that Austin SHOULD be back at ND. I would never begin to guess what a player WILL do, but I will throw out what I think makes the most sense for a player’s draft potential. This doesn’t even necessarily mean what they SHOULD do, because there is more happening than just football. It seems very clear to me that an extra year could potentially benefit Liufau much more than it could benefit Hart. I see one situation where Hart would benefit from coming back in ’23. If he sucks this year, then is amazing in ’23. But this seems so unlikely that I’m confident in saying I see no real upside of another year for him (other than the glory of 6 more months at ND). Maybe it just comes down to what we each consider to be likely to happen. If Liufau goes out and wins the Bednarik, then yeah, a second year playing at that level won’t help him. Based on his hype, this is a possibility, but I can’t think of that ever happening, and would be very surprised. He could also have a mediocre year and test so amazingly well that he pulls a Travon Walker. But Walker was a 5 star, nationally hyped player his entire career (as brief and statistically unimpressive as it was), coming off a season on one of the best defenses ever, and played in the SEC. So I think this is even less likely than a Bednarik season. What I think is quite likely is that he has a season like Austin, which was very good, but not nationally noteworthy. In this case the NFL could very much care if he had a second year starting. That second year is also dependent on staying healthy, improving, and garnering national attention. But that could definitely bump him up a couple rounds. I don’t think Coney is a good comparison, because he simply didn’t hit the minimum threshold of NFL athleticism. No number of extra years was going to change that. Liufau does meet that threshold (according to people who watch practice), so improving his game, and another year in a weight room at a more physical position, could help him move up a draft board. If not, why would anyone ever stay past 1 year of starting. Just look at Foskey. He stayed, while having a lot more film than Liufau will after this year, because he thinks he can improve his draft stock (or maybe just because he loves ND). What I personally think is most likely is that Liufau plays very well, gets himself draft consideration, and even if he stays doesn’t improve his stock too much. But my main point is there is a good chance that an extra year would benefit him, especially given the huge number of unknowns for him at this… Read more »
Wow that turned into a long post. Sorry everyone.
And for Austin “should” was just draftability, not a real what he should have done with his life.
No worries, appreciated reading it. I wouldn’t use Foskey as a comparison for Liufau personally, he’s just as disparate as Coney, albeit in the other direction. Going from being a 2nd round pick and trying to be a 1st is way different from where Liufau is likely to be as well.
As you touched on, it boils down to the opinion of what a player “should” do in his best interests versus analyzing it from what he may be more likely to do in reality. I could be totally wrong and conditions could be right for Liufau to return for 5th year. I’m just not counting on it, though.
Very true on Foskey. I also had written up a comparison of Julian Love and Coney (as being opposite to Liufau). Both were held back (draftwise) by physical limitations. But otherwise, like Foskey/Liufau super different.
Everyone is different and in the end chooses their own path. I hope both come back, are consensus AAs, and then somehow get drafted first overall in the same draft.
Did we just get another long snapper commit? Hard to keep track of all of them these days.
Recruiting is awesome overall, but you don’t have to put scare quotes around consolation prize. Three months ago everyone thought we were going to get Dante Moore and either CJ Carr or Julian Sayin. The combination of whatever two quarterbacks we get is going to be distinctly worse than that, unless Carr reclassifies and Sayin commits.
Recruiting overall is hot. QB recruiting is… somewhat improved recently but overall disappointing over a five-year horizon.
I mean clearly in 2024 is a significant improvement over what we’ve been getting (5 star, 4th QB right now in the class).
2023 is clearly a miss right now and is likely to be – at best – passable. That’s not good enough obviously. Though this is a short cycle for Freeman who just took over 5 or 6 months ago. Yes Rees has been here before but Rees with Freeman seems to be greater than Rees with Kelly (see 2024).
Maybe somehow ND can pivot and hit a homerun in 2023 but I doubt it (Carr reclassifying would obviously fix things; Carr in 2023 and Sayin in 2024 would probably be better than Moore/Carr actually).
2025 will tell whether we can continually get elite recruits at the QB position or not. If we get another 5 star in 2025 I think we can chalk up 2023 to a short cycle with Freeman/NIL not quite being in our favor, etc. If not and we get someone outside of the top 100 then I think there will be serious questions about Rees/QB recruiting (since Freeman has already shown he can recruit).
We might get away with it if we hit on Buchner and Carr (assuming 2023 is not an elite guy) but that’s a dicey proposition – not because they aren’t talented but because it’s just tough to bat .1000 on the top prospects.
I guess the good news about QB recruiting is that our roster won’t be fully ready to compete IN the playoff until 2024 at the earliest. We are at least showing now that we can recruit these guys.
Realistically, if recruiting keeps up at this pace, our roster will be comparable, if still somewhat below Bama/UGA/aTm, in 2025 and beyond. Then we will have a sophomore Carr and should have a 5 star freshman (should if we keep or improve momentum). This would be pretty in line with Smart’s UGA timeline.
If Carr really is elite, then him as a sophomore should be good enough to win a playoff game.
A lot of IFs, but it can take a while to build a roster than could win back to back playoff games. We at least appear to be building towards that, even if QB is a year behind others.
I think that’s right. The problem is just that if we don’t hit on Carr then we are set back a year. And having a 5 star or at least top 100 QB in 2023 would have given us 2 shots to hit on one basically.
But that’s right, Freeman is building a recruiting monster and yes in 2024 the 2022 class (which Freeman obviously had a huge hand in making pretty close to elite) will be juniors. I would think it would be more like 2025 year that we could be playoff bound but I would agree that 2024 is the first shot at it.
So it might not set us back that much of we hit on Carr but it’s possible it could have been sped up with elite QB play a year earlier and again having two cracks at one elite player is usually what’s helpful.
The fences shifting to “it’s disappointing not to sign five star quarterbacks in 2023 and 2024 and also every recent year prior” is quite the champagne problem to have, especially in the context of Moore going to Nike U.
It’d be better to have Dante Moore at Notre Dame then it is now to not have him, but that’s life big game hunting. Even Alabama and Georgia don’t always get their top target (Arch) at times too, but life moves on. Shoot for the stars and don’t be worried about ending up on the moon.
When Alabama doesn’t get Arch Manning, they settle for two top-75 quarterback commits. When ND doesn’t get their five-star, they’re trying to get a Baylor commit outside the top 200. We aren’t recruiting at a QB level anywhere near Alabama right now, even factoring in the Carr commitment.
If the point is that we shouldn’t expect to recruit like Alabama and saying we’re not is champagne problems, fair enough. But it’s not that we’re just not recruiting QB at an elite level; we aren’t really recruiting QB at a top-10 level. Like a comment above says, we need both Buchner and Carr to both be full-on hits for any realistic chance of sustaining a program capable of winning playoff games through the next 4-5 years or so, and the odds of both happening are pretty low.
Buchner and Carr are both top-75 QB’s. Not sure why it’s go impressive when Alabama does that, but not Notre Dame…Quite the sour perspective to have! Obviously Bama gets more quantity to get two in a year, but they’re dealing with more turnover too, the QB that isn’t playing isn’t staying.
There’s also the very real chance Carr moves into 2023 and they get another quality prospect for 2024. With the way recruiting is trending, that’s more likely to happen for a better case scenario than the typical tired doom ‘n gloom.
Wait, what? Are you being serious here? Not trying to be a jerk, just a bit surprised that a school getting two top 100 QBs in one year is being put on equal footing of getting two top 75 QBs in a 4 year period (with two years in between). How is the first school not far more impressive in their QB recruiting than the 2nd school?
ND09 was just comparing one year of Bama anyway (when they lose the #1 – they fall into #56 and #93).
Here’s the last 4 classes (including 2023):
2023 – #56, #93
2022 – #26
2021 – #82
2020 – #2
And it’s not about transferring. As far as I can tell none of these guys have transferred (though obviously Young – #2 will not be on the roster next year).
I think anyone in their right mind would trade this set of QBs for whatever ND will end up with in this 4 year period (or most any 4 year period of QB recruiting).
Next year Alabama is going to have 4 top 100 level QBs vying for their starting position.
ND
2024 – #18
2023 – ??? (likely no better than #260)
2022 – #365
2021 – #71, (Powlus who was #133 at his position and not nationally ranked)
2020 – #225
The goal posts shift quite a bit, of course Alabama recruits at a higher level and with more quantity than Notre Dame, that’s not even a question.
The unnecessarily negative “we aren’t really recruiting QB at a top-10 level” a month after signing a 5-star QB (and missing out on another only because a kid shifted his priorities to making more $) is a sad outlook to have. It relies too heavily on the distant past to cling to a bad narrative. It also tends to discount or ignore that only 1 QB plays and between Buchner/Carr that Notre Dame might never not have a top-75 QB taking snaps moving forward.
Ok I see what you mean now. That doesn’t seem well expressed in this line of yours (in fact it at least seems contradictory – but I get the sentiment anyway now)
I guess I took ND09 to simply be saying while the rest of the recruiting is on fire QB recruiting is not that improved like he says here
I mean in a way I think it’s true we aren’t recruiting at a top 10 level at QB. One 5 star doesn’t change that. The challenge with QB recruiting is basically you get one shot at it per class so it takes a few classes to change the narrative at that position. I realize that in some way QB recruiting is better even in 2023 because we were so close with Moore – but then on the other hand 2nd doesn’t really count.
I’m not sure what ND09 would expect but I would expect in 2025 to get another top 100 QB. And I think at that point is when the narrative changes (even more so if its a 5 star QB in 2025).
Nevertheless I don’t think ND09’s take is unnecessarily negative (or if so, it is ever so slightly so). It seems to be more realistic at this point.
It should clear that I agree with the 2nd half of this statement, but the I disagree with the first half because while it is true that only 1 QB plays (obviously), it’s typically necessary to have multiple top players at any position in order that one of them develops into an actual top player. It’s tough to hit 100% at one’s top recruits. IF that happens with Buchner and Carr then we’ll be fine and missing in between won’t make much of a difference. But if that happens that’ll be a rare event and one that cannot be relied on again and again.
To add to all this… you want healthy competition in your positions. It is much easier for Alabama to end up with a NC level QB if they are taking a top 100 (or 2) talent every year than ND that is hitting on one every other cycle. If ultimately you have a QB or two transfer, then you have the best (assumedly) one stay, and a QB room that is equal to ND’s. (But really better, because you have sifted out the wheat).