Big Board: Irish Targeting Louisville Commit at Safety

As you can see, not a lot going on with the uncommitted prospects here. There’s a chance we see this board expand in the near future.

In the Fold

The Irish landed Naperville, IL safety Isaiah Robertson (.8998) way back in April. He appears to be about as solid of a commit as you could get. At 6-3/190 pounds, Isaiah has great size as well as range. He should end up being a good one.

In Play

Deangelo Gibbs will likely choose among Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee. Look for the Bulldogs to earn his pledge.

Devon Hunter was supposed to take an OV to Notre Dame for a couple different games. That never happened, and the Irish have been officially eliminated from contention. Devon will likely choose to play his college ball at Virginia Tech, though Clemson is also a legit contender.

Xavier McKinney is a one-time Alabama commit. He opened things up a while back and is now considering Clemson and Ohio State, with Clemson looking most likely to land him.

Todd Harris is looking at LSU, Alabama, and Ole Miss. I expect him to pick the Tigers. It would be a major shock if he spurned the home-state team. Although LSU does already have two safeties committed in the class, and maybe the firing of Les Miles opened a door for the Tide and Rebels to sneak in through?

Notre Dame briefly looked like a legit contender for Isaiah Pola-Mao. His mother was very vocal about her affinity for the Irish. Nothing ever materialized of this interest, though. Washington is the favorite to land him.

Chaz Ah You is another guy that Notre Dame was in the mix for over the summer. Chaz plans on taking his Mormon mission trip upon graduating high school, though. These two-year mission plans resulted in the Irish staff backing off their recruitment of him.

CJ Avery has been focusing on Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Auburn, Clemson, and Louisville as of late. Mississippi State has appeared to consistently be at the top for him, so that’s where I’m guessing he ends up.

Jaylen Kelly-Powell is pretty much a lock to Michigan.

KJ Jarrell is one kid that’s been consistently difficult to gauge. It appears as though he’s looking at Nebraska, Oklahoma, USC, and Arizona State. But your guess is probably as good as mine concerning where he will end up.

RJ Potts of course looked like an ND lock early in the process. That mysteriously changed early in 2016. No idea what the cause of this change was, but it seems like it was a decision by the staff. RJ will likely end up playing for Indiana.

Tank Robinson has been consistently high on South Carolina. There are other contenders here such as Tennessee and North Carolina, but I think he’ll probably end up with the Gamecocks.

Jaiden Cole was a kid that many thought ND could land if they pushed for him. He visited South Bend for the beautiful 65-degree night that was the Michigan State game. He had good things to say about Notre Dame but also said it was… Too cold? Southerners, man… Anyway, Jaiden currently has a Top 2 of Arkansas and Oklahoma State.

Committed Elsewhere

TreSean Smith (.856) is Notre Dame’s newest offer at the position, and the target they appear to be pursuing the most. I could actually make the case for putting the Cincinnati athlete on the board as he appears receptive of the ND staff, but I’ll hold off on that until he decides to set up an OV to South Bend. Tre is currently committed to Louisville, and that will pose a tough challenge to the Irish staff. Considering the year Louisville is having and the year ND is having, there are significant hurdles to jump just to get Tre on campus. We’ll see how things develop in the coming weeks.

Jacoby Stevens and Grant Delpit — LSU

Richard LeCounte III — Georgia

Germane Crowell — Virginia

Isaiah Pryor — Ohio State

Stuart Head — Stanford

Amari Carter — Miami

Keldrick Carper — Texas A&M

Daniel Wright — Florida State

Robert Barnes — Oklahoma

Maleik Gray — Tennessee

Paris Ford — Pitt