Every year, one or two home games become marquee recruiting events; this year, there will be a very impressive list of recruiting visitors for Michigan State weekend, making it arguably the premier recruiting event of the 2016 season for the Irish. The visitor list has steadily grown over the last few weeks with elite names from multiple cycles announcing their plans to stop by. The Irish are of course in good shape with some of these prospects and on the fringe with others, but regardless, it’s a big coup for the staff to get both this level of quality and quantity in for a key game weekend. Now we just need to go out and roll the Spartans…

Players who have already committed to ND are in italics; rankings are 247 Composite overall/position.

UPDATE: Some late notable additions to the visitor list, all unofficial visitors as far as I know…

2017:

Cole Kmet, TE, #93/#3

Josh Lugg, OT, #198/#23

Jerron Cage, DT, #222/#12 (Ohio State commit)

Peter Werner, ILB, #275/#19

Dillan Gibbons, OT, #387/#40

2018:

Cameron Hoelscher, ILB, #589/#15

KJ Phillips, ILB, #827/#27

2019:

247 rankings only – there is no Composite list for 2019 yet

Stephen Herron, WDE, #15/#2

Logan Brown, OT, #17/#2

Official Visitors

Shaun Wade, CB, #18/#3 (Ohio State commit)

Thomas Graham, CB, #50/#6

Salvon Ahmed, ATH, #98/#2

Hezekiah Jones, WR, #133/#18 (Texas A&M commit)

Jeremiah Holloman, WR, #153/#23

Aaron Banks, OT, #165/#19

Jacob Phillips, ILB, #193/#7

Donovan Jeter, DT, #276/#15

Jaiden Cole, ATH, #579/#42

Notes:

I can’t remember the last time Notre Dame had three top 100 cornerbacks visiting for the same game. Shaun Wade is clearly the headliner – the #14 overall player in the 2017 class could start on Day 1 for any program in the country. He has been committed to Ohio State for a while but there’s growing sentiment that he won’t sign there, with Alabama and Notre Dame looking like the most likely alternatives and Florida also trying to work into the picture. Wade has family in Alabama and he lives in Florida, so each offers some of the comforts of home, but otherwise probably don’t offer much that’s different from Ohio State – all have highly-regarded head coaches, all are top programs, all are, shall we say, culturally different than Notre Dame. Wade visited Notre Dame by himself over the summer, and will bring both parents with him on this trip. That’s excellent news for the Irish, as winning Wade’s parents over is certainly necessary and perhaps sufficient to win this battle. If Notre Dame is going to be a serious player for Wade, they have to make a big move this weekend.

Thomas Graham visited Notre Dame with his father in the spring and loved it. His father had glowing remarks for Notre Dame at the time, and Thomas himself has had plenty of good things to say as well. Pulling Graham away from California, and specifically away from UCLA, may prove difficult, but there’s very real interest here. He’ll bring both parents with him on this trip, which is obviously big. While cornerback is a need in this class and Graham’s on-field abilities make him a very valuable target, I really hope he signs with Notre Dame so I have a continuing excuse to mention his high school, Rancho Cucamonga. That sounds like something out of a Quick Draw McGraw episode.

Washington athlete Salvon Ahmed could line up at a few different spots, but Notre Dame likes him at corner. He’s one of the fastest players in the country in this recruiting cycle, clocking a 4.32 40 at The Opening this summer; the event times tend to be somewhat friendly, but regardless, this kid can fly. Washington and Oregon are the main competitors here, with the Huskies looming large as the current favorite to land him. By all accounts Ahmed is the very prototype of a RKG, so the staff hopes that Notre Dame will speak to him and vault into the lead for his services.

Former Baylor commit Hezekiah Jones visited in the summer and was blown away, with buzz growing for a potential flip. The flip happened, but not in Notre Dame’s favor – after Art Briles was fired, Jones flipped to Texas A&M. The race obviously isn’t over, though, since after committing to the Aggies Jones scheduled his official visit to Notre Dame. He likes Notre Dame a lot, obviously, but even without being committed to a Texas school it was going to be tough to pull him out of the Lone Star State. That A&M commitment will most likely stick barring a College Station dumpster fire (which, granted, is quite possible this year), but it’s worth a shot.

Georgian Jeremiah Holloman will visit Notre Dame for the first time after showing interest for a long time. He’s another RKG who should see a lot to like on an all-or-nothing trip for Notre Dame’s chances. Even at #153 overall in the 247 Composite he’s probably a bit underrated; he’s an excellent athlete with an imposing build (6’2″/190) for a receiver. The in-state Bulldogs will of course be difficult to fend off, but again, there is genuine interest here and the Irish staff will do everything they can to make a lasting impression. What is particularly interesting here is that a pattern clearly emerges regarding what type of player the Irish are trying to land with the (probably) last receiver spot in this class – they’re all a little different, but Osiris St. Brown, Tarik Black, Hezekiah Jones, Jeremiah Holloman, and Washington commit and soft Irish target Tyrell Bynum are all fairly similar too. In fact, they’re all very reminiscent physically of Javon McKinley last year.

The Irish have made inroads very quickly with Aaron Banks, a 6’7″/344 lb. behemoth tackle prospect from California. Banks isn’t as complete a prospect as Foster Sarell or Trey Smith, who will both take officials for the Stanford game, but he’s big and athletic. You know Harry Hiestand loves that. Banks picked up a Notre Dame offer in June and visited unofficially in August before scheduling his official for the Michigan State game. With a trip from California on his own dime and now an official visit, there’s obviously genuine interest from Banks. But can the trip do enough to fight off the likes of Cal, Oregon, UCLA, and USC, who are all closer to home and also in the running?

Jacob Phillips is listed as an inside linebacker in the Composite, but the Irish staff likes him on the outside as a guy who could rush the passer or drop into space. Oklahoma was long considered the favorite for Phillips but has perhaps faded a bit lately, with Alabama becoming more of a presence. Phillips took an official to Oregon two weekends ago, to Oklahoma last weekend, he’ll take an official visit to Alabama next weekend, and he’ll take an official to LSU the weekend after that. So we should have a good idea of where Notre Dame stands pretty quickly. Also, that is a really aggressive official visit schedule – I don’t think I’ve ever seen a prospect use all five so quickly. Well done, Jacob.

Donovan Jeter is an interesting case. He’s another western Pennsylvania recruit, where the Irish have been cleaning up lately, but he’s generally considered a safe bet to sign with Pitt and join his brother, who plays basketball there. He also profiles most directly as a defensive tackle at the next level, or maybe a strong-side defensive end if he doesn’t get much bigger, neither of which is a position of need in this class at the moment with Darnell Ewell, Kurt Hinish, and Jonathon McCollister all in the fold. To top it all off, he even released a finalist list without Notre Dame recently. And yet here he is, taking an official visit to South Bend after tweeting about how the other western PA kids committed to Notre Dame were working on him. Interesting.

Notre Dame forayed into Louisiana last month to offer athlete Jaiden Cole; the staff is targeting Cole as a safety. Cole wasted little time in setting up an official visit for this weekend. He doesn’t have an offer from LSU, but he does hold offers from Arkansas, Arizona State, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and Washington. There are some decent defensive minds in there taking an interest in this kid.

Unofficial Visitors

2017:

Ambry Thomas, CB, #108/#12

David Adams, ILB, #116/#3

Jaylen Kelly-Powell, S, #256/#20

Kurt Hinish, DT, #487/#40

Drew White, ILB, #887/#38

Mac Hippenhammer, WR, #776/#113 (Penn State commit)

2018:

Jackson Carman, OT, #17/#3

Derrik Allen, CB, #18/#2

Phil Jurkovec, QB, #28/#2

Christian Tutt, CB, #97/#14

Emil Ekiyor, OT, #110/#4

Dallas Gant, OLB, #121/#5

Bo Bauer, OLB, #124/#3

Leonard Taylor, TE, #138/#8

Verdis Brown, OG, #152/#8

Tyreke Smith, WDE, #154/#4

Tyneil Hopper, TE, #212/#10

Malik Vann, SDE, #277/#9

Ovie Oghoufo, OLB, #309/#22

Lawrence Johnson, DT, #684/#57

Dashon Bussell, WR, #700/#101

Garrison Vaughn, S, #775/#58

Carman, Allen, Tutt, Gant, Taylor,  and Vann are the only prospects in this 2018 list that currently hold Irish offers.

Notes:

Let’s get the 2017 unofficial visitors out of the way first… Mac Hippenhammer really wanted a Notre Dame offer; he attended Irish Invasion and did well, showcasing his excellent speed, but his build is pretty slight and the staff just didn’t see enough potential to extend an offer. He committed to Penn State shortly after. I wouldn’t expect the Irish to push unless they strike out on a lot of other guys, but it would seem that he’s there for the taking if the staff wants him. Ambry Thomas and Jaylen Kelly-Powell will make about their 900th visit to Notre Dame, give or take, although Michigan is still in excellent position for both with Michigan State on the fringes for Thomas. Commits David Adams, Kurt Hinish, and Drew White will play the part of Irish ambassadors.

Now, on to the 2018 visitors… There’s no other way to say it: This list is absurd. Sixteen visitors from the 2018 class, including three five-stars, eight top 150 prospects, and twelve top 300 prospects. Many of these kids have been to Notre Dame before, which is obviously a positive sign. Some are coming from a distance to make their first visit, while some are from closer by and have been on campus before. And, since they’re unofficial visits, all these kids are paying their own way. No matter how you slice it, this is a fantastic visitor list.

Ohio State fans feel good about five-star tackle Jackson Carman, but he’ll attend his second consecutive Irish game this weekend; two visits in seven days certainly serve as an indicator of real interest. Five-star Derrik Allen and four-stars Christian Tutt and Tyneil Hopper will trek (separately!) from Georgia on their own dime; the weekend should go a long way in determining how much of a player the Irish will truly be for the Georgia triumvirate. Phil Jurkovec will, as you might expect, play a primary role in recruiting other 2018 prospects, which will be a focus of fellow 2018 Irish commits Bo Bauer and Ovie Oghoufo as well.

Emil Ekiyor will head north from Indianapolis to follow up on his Irish Invasion visit. Dallas Gant got his offer at Irish Invasion and is coming back to check out the game day environment. Leonard Taylor decommitted from Michigan last month and is now making the rounds, with Notre Dame the first of several unofficial visits this fall. Verdis Brown attended the less-publicized post-Irish Invasion lineman camp back in June and will return this weekend. Tyreke Smith will visit Notre Dame for the first time; Ohio State is the heavy favorite to land him at the moment, so it will be interesting to see what comes out of this visit.

Malik Vann visited for Irish Invasion and was blown away – if you pick one prospect from either class for your commit watch pool this weekend, Vann would be a good choice. Mac Hippenhammer’s teammate Lawrence Johnson will visit Notre Dame for the second time, with the first visit coming last week for the Nevada game. Dashon Russell, who hails from the same high school as Irish legend Jaylon Smith (no, it’s not too soon to call him that), will visit for at least the third time, having attended the Wake Forest game last season and Irish Invasion this summer. Garrison Vaughn, who hails from the same high school as current Irish tight end Durham Smythe, will make his first visit to campus.