As you might expect, we have a very impressive list of recruiting visitors for Georgia. Normally I would say it’s impossible to imagine a recruiting weekend that’s a bigger deal than a USC game, but in this case I think there’s a discussion. Georgia will play Notre Dame for just the second time ever, and travel north of the Mason-Dixon line for the first time since facing Michigan in 1965. Yes. 1965. Lyndon Johnson was president the last time Georgia went on the road to a northern locale. In fact, Saturday will mark only the fifth regular-season game since 1965 that Georgia has played outside the South; in addition to that Michigan game, the Bulldogs traveled to Houston in 1967, Oklahoma State in 2009, and Colorado in 2010. That’s sort of mind-blowing, and perhaps helps partly explain why this game has energized their fan base so much.
Of course, the other thing that helps explain it is that this a relatively rare intersectional match-up of two of the blue bloods of college football; as we’ve seen in recent tilts between Ohio State and Oklahoma and USC and Alabama, these games have a lot of cache. What holds for the general public holds for recruits as well; there is no shortage of prospects who wanted to visit for this game.
Players who have already committed to ND are in italics; rankings are 247 Composite overall/position.
2018 Visitors
OG Jamaree Salyer, #7/#1
CB Houston Griffith, #60/#10
S Derrik Allen, #71/#6
DUAL Phil Jurkovec, #76/#5Â (unofficial)
WR Chase Cota, #104/#21
ILB Jack Lamb, #139/#7
CB Kalon Gervin, #214/#22 (unofficial)
RB Markese Stepp, #236/#11Â (unofficial)
S Julius Irvin, #273/#20
OLB Ovie Oghoufo, #384/#27
WR Micah Jones, #425/#76 (unofficial)
WR Geordon Porter, #484/#88
OT Cole Mabry, #644/#54Â (unofficial)
2019 Visitors
WR David Bell, #63/#12
SDE Joseph Anderson, #91/#8
WDE Jason Bargy, #145/#10
DT Mazi Smith, #151/#7
DT Jacob Lacey, #158/#8
SDE George Karlaftis, #179/#16
RB Chez Mellusi, #204/#15
APB Eric Gray, #260/#2
PRO Cade McNamara, #372/#10
SDE Noah Potter, #406/#29
OT Jeremy James, #539/#54
DUAL Peyton Matocha, NR/NR
2018 Notes:
Five-star lineman Jamaree Salyer is the unquestioned jewel of the weekend. He’s an absolutely dominant player who, regardless of how things play out for the Irish during the rest of this season, would probably have a chance to crack their starting lineup in 2018. Or anyone’s, really, he’s that good. Notre Dame is probably running third behind Clemson and Georgia right now, but it’s notable that this will be his third visit to campus and his mother will be with him. A home-run visit could but Notre Dame right in the thick of the race.
Irish fans are probably very familiar with the name Houston Griffith at this point – he has been on the recruiting radar seemingly forever, and reportedly has taken nearly a dozen visits to campus. The last known visit happened a while ago, though, and rumor had him leaning to Ohio State, Nebraska, or Florida State, depending on what week it was. Well, perk up, folks – it appears Notre Dame is still very much in this race and will get a chance to make a big impression with an official visit. Griffith plays for IMG Academy in Florida now but is from Chicago; he’s good friends with current players Julian Love and Isaiah Robertson and current commit Micah Jones, all fellow Chicagoland athletes. All are no doubt in his ear about Notre Dame. He could play corner, nickel, or free safety for the Irish, and he could do it early. That combination of versatility and polish makes coaches drool. Not in a creepy way, though.
Oregon wideout Chase Cota visited for the spring game, and apparently that visit made a big impression on him. Many assumed the Oregon legacy would inevitably head to Eugene, but that now seems far from a sure thing; Oregon took four receivers in last year’s class and has two already in this year’s, and may be full at the position. Cota has also shown interest in UCLA recently, as well as continued interest in Notre Dame. It’s worth noting that while the Oregon connection is of course very strong, his father Chad played with Pat Terrell in Carolina and was signed by Bill Polian in Indianapolis.
Cornerback Kalon Gervin is a pleasantly surprising re-addition to the board. Gervin decommitted from Notre Dame back in May, and made some curious comments about coaching staff effort that seemed to slam the door shut. However, the staff stayed in touch and convinced Gervin to give the Irish another look. It probably also helps that two of the other schools he was interested in, Oregon and Virginia Tech, each already have four cornerback commits in their class and could be done at the position. Will Notre Dame be able to coax the Cass Tech product back into the fold? They’ll have this unofficial visit and a potential official visit for the USC game to pull it off.
It seems like Notre Dame wants a free safety prospect in this class, and Californian Julius Irvin is arguably the best prospect on the board. Irvin has long expressed interested in the Irish and will look to confirm that interest in his first visit to campus. The Servite product is a former teammate of Amon-Ra St. Brown; perhaps more importantly, though, his father LeRoy Irvin was a Pro Bowl cornerback with the Rams in the 80’s and knows Todd Lyght well. Stay tuned.
Another California athlete, speed wideout Geordon Porter, will also make his first trek to campus after professing strong interest. Porter ran a 10.68 100m in his junior track season, and last weekend broke current Detroit Lion Marvin Jones’s school record for all-purpose yards in a game with 361. He’s got some ability. Porter also has official visits to Arizona State and Utah scheduled, and is considering a visit to UCLA as well.
Seven of Notre Dame’s 16 2018 commits will visit this weekend as well. What I really like about this list is that it matches up very well with the uncommitted prospects from a position group perspective: Salyer with Cole Mabry, Gervin and Irvin (heh) with Derrik Allen, Cota and Porter with Micah Jones. There are even geographic connections – Porter and Jack Lamb are friends, we noted the Chicago link between Griffith and Jones already, and Gervin has been recruited by fellow Michigander Ovie Oghoufo for a long time. And of course, the class’s self-appointed lead recruiter, Markese Stepp, and its first commit, elite QB Phil Jurkovec, will be on campus as well.
Also of note is that Kevin Austin and fellow Floridian BJ Crim planned to make it in but had to reschedule due to Hurricane Irma; both will will visit for the USC game instead. And TE Tommy Tremble (#560/#24) was scheduled to visit this weekend, but he scrapped those plans after breaking his ankle in his first game this year. He intends to reschedule the visit for later in the season.
2019 Notes:
David Bell, who goes to the same high school that turned out Sheldon Day, will make his third visit to campus. Ohio State is supposedly his “dream offer,” as evidenced by the 80% crystal ball rate for the Buckeyes despite the fact that they haven’t actually offered him yet. They’re always going to be a threat to swoop in and take him, but for now at least, Notre Dame is legitimately in the discussion here… Another Chicagoland product, Jason Bargy, will make his first visit since receiving an offer at Notre Dame’s elite junior day in April… Tennessean Joseph Anderson will make his second visit to campus on his own dime. If pressed I might guess the Irish hold a bit of a lead, but it’s very early… Ohioan Mazi Smith will visit Notre Dame for the first time since earning an offer at their linemen camp in June… George Karlaftis has some ties to Notre Dame: his grandfather played for the Irish and he lives down the road in West Lafayette. He also has ties to Miami, though, where his father played, and Notre Dame is likely chasing at this point…
Cesare “Chez” Mellusi will make the trek from Florida for the first time; he has spoken glowingly of Autry Denson and the Irish staff overall… Eric Gray could get an offer on his first visit. Michigan, Tennessee, and Stanford have made early progress, but Gray speaks highly of Notre Dame and the interest seems genuine… Ohioan Noah Potter will also visit for the first time. Potter has a handful of lower-level Power 5 and Group of 5 offers, but turned some heads at camps this summer and is gaining some momentum… Georgia lineman Jeremy James will make his first visit to Notre Dame as well… Peyton Matocha is a curious case. Notre Dame is all in with its first 2019 commitment, Cade McNamara, as the signal caller for the class. With Wimbush having a potential fifth year available, as well as Ian Book, Avery Davis, and Phil Jurkovec all in the pipeline, there are bigger needs in the 2019 class than a second quarterback. Matocha attended Irish Invasion this summer too, so it’s not like either side is unfamiliar with the other and wants to feel things out. Is the staff covering its bases? Considering the 6’4″, 195-pound Matocha at a different position? Who knows?
Joining those targets will be the entirety of Notre Dame’s current 2019 class – elite DT Jacob Lacey and the aforementioned Mr. McNamara. Just as with the 2018 class, it will be a nice boost to have committed guys on campus with these kids.
Great write-up. But we’re definitely calling him Julius “The Doctor” Irvin, right?
I would hope so. Or, perhaps more appropriately, Julius… “The Doctor”… Irrrrrrrrrvin.
Only if we can also refer to Geordan Porter as “The Rock”
Very detailed write-up – someone did his homework on the recruit visits! One recruit that I wonder about is Gervin…it seems like guys that waffle on their commitment don’t work out in the end (but that’s just my impression).
Stephon Tuitt says hi… He flipped to Georgia Tech and then flipped back to ND after Kelly’s in-home visit. It’s definitely less common, but it happens. Then you have stories like Aaron Lynch and Gunner Kiel. There are also plenty of kids who flip around and end up fine, of course.
This year there are two high-profile kids I’m aware of who have flipped twice already: WR Manny Allen flipped from USC to Nebraska to Louisville (seems like he’s moving down the food chain), and WR Justin Watkins flipped from FSU to Texas, then decommitted and is currently leaning to Alabama. I just know them because they have ND offers, there are probably other kids too. That kind of waffling makes me a little wary of their long-term prospects.
I have decided not to really pay attention to recruiting much (although i very much enjoyed this write up).
Best guess: Are we going to end up in the 10-15 ranking range like usual?
Most likely. Possibly a little higher. But also possibly lower if the season goes south.
We’re eighth right now. If we have a strong but not amazing close, we should end up somewhere from 8th to 10th. If we have an amazing close, we *might* be able to creep up to 6th. That would require at least one, possibly two five-stars, though, and that looks like an extremely long shot right now. Most likely is somewhere from 8th to 12th.
“That combination of versatility and polish makes coaches drool. Not in a creepy way, though.”
Oh yeah? Hold my sleeping bag and watch who pops in at midnight, bro — Harbaugh
One big scratch – Salyer tweeted he won’t make it due to “family issues,” which reportedly is the death of his grandfather. Very sad. We’ll see if he reschedules.