Stop me if you’ve heard this one: The USC game is days away. The Irish are favored and it’s a huge recruiting weekend. Woohoo! Just like 2011, right? Well, while there will be many recruiting visitors for USC weekend, just like 2011, but there’s plenty of reason to believe that 2017 Notre Dame is in a much better place than 2011 Notre Dame. We won’t rehash the opening of the 2011 season, because we only just barely managed not to gouge our eyes out over it back then. But it was bad. This year’s Irish edition has a much stronger positive vibe and rides a wave of momentum into its matchup with #11 USC. A one-point loss to the #3 team in the country and an average margin of +28 in the other five games will do that.
Are the vibes justified? Will Notre Dame build on its strong first half to plow through a very difficult second half, beginning with Saturday’s game? For the sake of the program and its recruiting fortunes, let’s hope so.
Players who have already committed to ND are in italics; rankings are 247 Composite overall/position.
2018 Visitors
WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, #11/#2
OT Nick Petit-Frere, #42/#4
ILB Solomon Tuliaupupu, #59/#3
DUAL Phil Jurkovec, #76/#5 (unofficial)
WR Kevin Austin, #91/#19
OG Chris Murray, #345/#16
OLB Ovie Oghoufo, #389/#27 (unofficial)
WR Micah Jones, #434/#77 (unofficial)
ATH Tariq Bracy, #460/#25
DT Ja’Mion Franklin, #562/#41 (unofficial)
TE Tommy Tremble, #571/#24
RB Jahmir Smith, #584/#28 (unofficial)
OT Cole Mabry, #662/#54
S Paul Moala, #805/#60
S BJ Crim, NR/#115
2019 Visitors
DT Jowon Briggs, #68/#6
OT Quinn Carroll, #78/#8
SDE Hunter Spears, #139/#13
DT Jacob Lacey, #155/#8
S Marvin Grant, #222/#13
CB Moses Douglass, #283/#28
PRO Cade McNamara, #371/#9
2018 Notes
Amon-Ra St. Brown, the five-star receiver with the six-star name, will finally trek back to campus for the first time since last summer. Some were concerned that he was in Indianapolis for the Rivals Five-Star Challenge and didn’t visit, but per NCAA regulations, he couldn’t visit unless he had paid for the travel to Indianapolis. And he didn’t, so that non-visit doesn’t necessarily mean anything. On the other hand, it’s no secret that his and Equanimeous’s father, former Mr. Universe John Brown, had substantial disdain for the prior strength and conditioning program. Brown reportedly has been quite impressed with Matt Balis’s regime, which helps Notre Dame considerably.
Amon-Ra is a tough read. He’s the most alpha of the three brothers, and striking out on his own would probably appeal to him more than the others. 2019 QB JT Daniels (#9/#1), who plays with Amon-Ra now at powerhouse Mater Dei, committed to USC; Daniels’s commitment no doubt is a factor for Amon-Ra, and even before that many had him penciled into USC’s class. I think the Irish are playing from behind here but it might not be quite as far behind as we thought a month or two ago. Can they make a big move this weekend? Will he value one year with his brother over one year (probably) on the field with Daniels?
Floridian Nick Petit-Frere will make his second trip to campus after visiting this summer with his mother. Some have compared Petit-Frere to former Irish standout Ronnie Stanley due to his exceptional athleticism – say it with me – for a guy his size. He’s the top OL target left on Notre Dame’s board by a long shot, which says more about him than about the other prospects. He won’t be easy to pull out of Florida, but he and his mother liked his first visit and he’s the definition of a Notre Dame kid. The Irish have a real shot here.
St. Brown will be joined on the trip by two other Mater Dei teammates – Solomon Tuliaupupu and Chris Murray. Tuliaupupu is an interesting addition to the list; many also assume he’s destined for Southern Cal, but by all accounts his interest is genuine. Also, Notre Dame has three linebackers already in this class in Jack Lamb, Ovie Oghoufo, and Bo Bauer, so at first glance it’s hard to see how Tuliaupupu fits. We just learned that freshman ILB David Adams will undergo his second shoulder surgery, which perhaps factors in. Or maybe the current staff would’ve pushed for Tuliaupupu regardless of the health of anyone currently on campus. If you catch our drift.
Murray is a big addition to the list given that elite Georgia guard Jamaree Salyer eliminated Notre Dame recently. The Irish staff definitely wants to take three to four linemen in this class, but it’s not a great class overall and they’re not going to take a guy just to take a guy. Fortunately, Murray isn’t just a guy – he’s a mean and athletic road grader for the interior. Of the three Mater Dei prospects in town for this weekend, Notre Dame definitely has the most realistic shot at him.
California athlete Tariq Bracy will visit Notre Dame for the first time. Bracy is a standout all-around player for Milipitas HS in California; through three and a half seasons, he has career averages of 9.3 yards per carry, 21.1 yards per reception, and 17.0 yards per punt return, as well as 13 interceptions and 53 offensive touchdowns. That’s one score every 7 offensive touches. He has also scored via defense, punt return, and kick return. His offer list is underwhelming – Cal, Utah, and Washington State are his only other Power 5 offers, with USC recently nibbling around the edges – but there’s no doubt that he’s a tremendous athlete. The staff is recruiting him as a corner; he’s extremely raw, but with his athleticism he’d make a great high-upside option in this class.
If you told me that exactly one of the visitors will commit this weekend, I’d probably tab Bracy. Stay tuned.
Tommy Tremble was supposed to see the Irish take on the Bulldogs, but he broke his ankle shortly before the game and wasn’t cleared to travel. Finally able to hit the road again, Tremble will be in town for the “other” big Irish home game this season. Tremble recently visited Michigan, and UCLA is also in play to a degree here. But this really looks like a two-team race between Georgia, where both his parents attended, and Notre Dame. Both parents love Notre Dame and Chip Long has made a big impression.
Local product Paul Moala, out of Penn High in Mishawaka, will Uber it to campus for his official (I’m kidding, if anyone’s wondering, although it’s quite possible). He has already visited unofficially a couple of times this fall, and earned an offer at Irish Invasion over the summer. The coaches were blown away by his performance there, which included a hand-timed 4.4 40 and some exceptional coverage skills. He was a two-star at the time, but others have taken notice as well; since then he has added Vandy and Nebraska to his offer list and garnered an invite to the 2018 Polynesian Bowl. Moala would be choice 1B for a possible commit this weekend.
Avonta “BJ” Crim is another recruit who tried to make it up for the Georgia game, but in his case Hurricane Irma derailed his plans. He’s an interesting prospect; some analysts swear he’s underrated by the services, but his offer list seems to agree. Louisville and Wake Forest are his only Power 5 offers – well, and Rutgers, but they’re not really Power 5, are they? Yet Mike Elko has been personally involved in his recruitment, and recently Clemson has shown some interest as well. He’s athletic and aggressive, for sure. To the level needed for elite football? I’m not sure, but I’ll be very interested to see if Elko extends him an offer this weekend. Something else that complicates matters is that Notre Dame would take Moala and is still chasing Julius Irvin, who has CB/S potential. Would there even be room for Crim?
Joining this excellent list of targets are current commits Phil Jurkovec, Kevin Austin, Ovie Oghoufo, Micah Jones, Ja’Mion Franklin, Jahmir Smith, and Cole Mabry.
2019 Notes
Jowon Briggs is an Ohio kid that Urban Meyer wants, but he has also built a great relationship with Mike Elston and really likes Notre Dame. Get your gloves on. Briggs visited for April’s junior day… Quinn Carroll, aside from a name that’s straight out of central casting, also has the interest of the staff with his blend of size, athleticism, and attitude. The Irish are in very good shape early but will be in a dogfight with pretty much everyone in the country. He’ll also visit for the first time since April… Texan Hunter Spears already has offers from 11 schools, including Alabama. He’s another Notre Dame kid who will draw plenty of interest nationally. He’s visiting for the first time.
Marvin Grant might sound familiar – he’s the Detroit prospect who served as a pretext for Kalon Gervin‘s decommitment when Lyght visited Grant without visiting Gervin. Lyght had a visit scheduled with Gervin two weeks later, but hey, why bother with facts? Anyway, Grant deserves to be detached from that situation and considered in his own right, because he’s a damn good DB. This is also his first visit to campus… Notre Dame recently offered Ohioan Moses Douglass, who already had some elite suitors: Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, and Wisconsin are among his 18 Power 5 offers. He will also make his first trek to South Bend.
Just like Georgia, both current 2019 Irish commits, Jacob Lacey and Cade McNamara, will be in town as well.
With the caveat that I’m not super informed about recruiting: do we really need a second tight end and/or a second pure safety given the numbers that Eric pointed out in the roster post recently? It just seems odd that there’s continuing interest in doing that, particularly when the guys are three stars.
Earlier in the cycle it looked like we were targeting four receivers and one tight end. Enter Chip Long, and while of course nobody said anything official, it looks more like three receivers and two tight ends now, so it affects the numbers less than you might think at first. Tremble is also a nice compliment to Takacs, who is more of an inline guy.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the stars. Georgia is in on Luke Ford, #48 overall, and might not have room for Tremble, but they have legitimately been recruiting him, as have Michigan and UCLA. Long thinks he’s underrated and loves his potential as a receiving TE.
I don’t know how the roster numbers will work out. Supposedly we’re targeting 25, which even with normal attrition and only essential fifth years would seem to be too high. But who knows. We never end up having to worry, so I guess we shouldn’t start now. Maybe.
That’s helpful, thanks!
Though I’m a little skeptical of the “[X position coach] thinks [Y 3-star] is underrated” stuff – that seems to be said about nearly every 3-star we ever sign (I would not be surprised at all to hear that’s standard at any top recruiting school, but to the extent I follow recruiting, it’s only ND recruiting, so that’s all I know). And a little while ago I took a through recent recruiting rankings and was pretty underwhelmed with the staff’s ability in finding legit 3-star star talent. Josh Adams is definitely an exception and not the rule. Point being: I dunno if it’s worth filling space with 3-stars when there doesn’t really seem to be space to fill.
But, as you say, space ultimately hasn’t been a problem ever. On top of the usual sad academic and/or criminal casualties, it does seem like the staff has gotten a bit more aggressive about, uh, how to phrase, suggesting that people may have better opportunities elsewhere, at least as compared to previous regimes. I think that has been a positive development. I’m just a bit concerned that they might have to get *too* aggressive about it next year, to the point where there’s some blowback.
I’m also a fan of avoiding 3-stars in general, mainly because I know there will be misses, and over the long haul it’s more likely with 3s than 4s or 5s. That said, there is something to be said for ‘fit’ with regard to coaching scheme. And ultimately, what am I going to do, ask a coach to ignore their own professional assessment and just recruit based on 247Composite? So you take the good with the bad and hope they are right!
I agree with both of you guys. If you look at Bama, OSU, USC, etc, they all take 3* kids every year. Every staff evaluates kids themselves and sometimes thinks they found a diamond in the rough. Some are better at that than others, of course. This is where having Bill Rees on staff is so important – he’s a legit top shelf talent evaluator.
As far as development, there are other three stars who have worked out, especially if you look at rankings when the staff offered rather than at the end of the recruiting cycle. Will Fuller is the best example of that – he was an unremarkable three star when we offered and a Composite four star by the time he signed.
But to the larger point, yes, the hit rate is going to be lower on three stars, so they certainly shouldn’t be the foundation of a class. If you have more than a handful of “trust us” kids in the class, that raises a red flag.
I think what people who only follow ND recruiting don’t realize is that even good recruiting classes have lots of, frequently more than half, 3 star players.
The average number of 3 stars for top 10 classes over the past 3 years is 9.7. And that includes Bama, tOSU, UGA combining for only 11 last year (which is absurd). So getting good three stars, especially that fit your program, is very important.
“the five-star receiver with the six-star name”
::”MWAH”:: Excellent line!
Marvin Grant, as in Jerian’s cousin, Marvin?
Actually, I believe he’s related to Maurice Stovall.
I think the staff will make room for Crim. If he’s anything like his dad, who played both ways for the Texas State Fighting Armadilloes while earning a doctorate in astrophysics, he’d be a great get.
Yeah, but everyone knows TSU’s Astrophysics doctoral program is just a degree-mill.
Andre does not eat raw meat because Andre is a vegetarian.
https://youtu.be/QvfJieP0KVA
This site makes me so very young.
Imagine the receiver recruiting haul if ND ended up with Amon-Ra St. Brown, Chase Cota and Kevin Austin. All I see is reception touchdowns for days!
I understand Zach Bowers ILB, class of ’19 is attending on an unofficial visit.
Thanks Brendan, great article. I’m excited to see if we get any commits out of all of these guys attending a mid-season game. I realize this isn’t just any mid-season game, but the last time we did this, the results weren’t that positive.
It seems to be the thing to do though, I’m pretty sure all of the top tier schools do this also. I get a vibe of most of the kids left are waiting to see if we self-destruct. I guess if we dominate USC, it will provide encouragement to kids that we have turned the corner.
I think Amon Ra will be much more impressed if the WRs can catch a few balls in this game.