Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com FEBRUARY 2019 35 FOOTBALL RECRUITING BY DAVID MCKINNEY AND COREY BODDEN I n an effort to capitalize on the Col- lege Football Playoff buzz on cam- pus, Notre Dame hosted an early Junior Day Dec. 15. Here's a rundown of the players that made it to campus. TOSH BAKER OFFENSIVE TACKLE Phoenix Pinnacle Rivals Rankings: Three-star pros- pect, the No. 11 player in Arizona and No. 50 offensive tackle in the class of 2020. The Skinny: The 6-8, 260-pounder made his first visit to South Bend for the Junior Day and left with an Irish offer. Notre Dame made quite the first impression on Baker, who lived in central Indiana for around five years when he was younger. Baker hit it off with the staff, in- cluding offensive line coach Jeff Quinn and head coach Brian Kelly, and is intrigued by the on-field success the program has achieved recently to go with the academic prestige of the university. The junior hopes to return to South Bend in the future and will be a name to monitor up front. ANDREW GENTRY OFFENSIVE TACKLE Littleton (Colo.) Columbine Rivals Rankings: Four-star talent, and the No. 6 offensive tackle and No. 40 overall player in the nation. The Skinny: Gentry picked up an offer from the Irish during his visit, and seemed to be blown away by what Notre Dame showed him. The main events of the visit were the practice viewing and meetings with Quinn. Gentry said he was im- pressed with Quinn and could tell during the practice that his players love playing for him. Even though the offer just recently came, Gentry said Notre Dame is al- ready one of his top schools, and the four-star ensured Quinn that he'll be coming back to Notre Dame for an official visit in April. Arizona, Arizona State, Duke, Michigan, Nebraska, Northwestern, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, UCLA, Utah and Washington State are among the other programs to have offered. DARRION HENRY DEFENSIVE END Cincinnati Princeton Rivals Rankings: Four-star recruit, and the No. 4 strongside defensive end and No. 43 overall prospect in the class of 2020. The Skinny: The talented defen- sive end does not say much when it comes to his recruitment, but he visited Notre Dame multiple times in 2018, and sources that we have spoken with believe Notre Dame is a top school for Henry, if not No. 1. Defensive end will be a priority for the Irish staff in 2020, and Henry will continue to receive a strong push in an effort to pull him from the likes of Ohio State, Clemson, Michigan, Penn State, Tennessee and others. JOHN HUMPHREYS WIDE RECEIVER Newport Beach (Calif.) Corona Del Mar Rivals Rankings: Four-star talent, and the No. 25 wide receiver and No. 116 overall player in the nation. The Skinny: When Humphreys landed his offer from Notre Dame, the four-star told Blue & Gold Illus- trated he won't be doing any inter- views at the time. He did make an unofficial visit all the way from Cali- fornia for the Junior Day just days after landing the offer. Stanford is the perceived early fa- vorite for Humphreys, which makes sense because both of his parents are graduates of the school. However, Notre Dame got him on campus and will push for an official visit. December Junior Day Brings Top Prospects To South Bend Cincinnati Princeton standout Darrion Henry, the No. 4 strongside defensive end and No. 43 overall player in the class of 2020 per Rivals, has visited Notre Dame several times, including for the school's Dec. 15 Junior Day. PHOTO BY BRANDON BROWN