Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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42 SEPT. 16, 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED FOOTBALL RECRUITING BY MIKE SINGER N otre Dame has assembled one of the premier collections of offen- sive talent in the 2020 class — head- lined by several top-tier skill posi- tion prospects — and is attempting to keep that momentum going with its 2021 haul. The Fighting Irish are off to a strong start in the rising junior class with commitments from La Jolla (Ca- lif.) Bishop's gunslinger Tyler Buch- ner, the No. 8 pro-style quarterback and No. 65 overall recruit nationally per Rivals, and Hartwell (Ga.) Hart County standout Cane Berrong, Ri- vals' No. 7 tight end and No. 178 overall player in the country. With Buchner committed, the Irish are done at quarterback. Notre Dame is open to taking a second tight end to pair with Berrong, and also has several notable offers out to 2021 prospects at running back and wide receiver. The Irish have offered only two junior tight ends — Berrong and Au- rora (Colo.) Cherokee's Sam Hart, the No. 9 player at that position and the No. 236 overall prospect in the coun- try according to Rivals. Hart visited Notre Dame in June and landed an offer from the Irish staff before he left South Bend. Running backs coach Lance Taylor has been highly active on the recruit- ing trail, extending three offers to 2021 ball carriers and working on identifying several others he could potentially tender this fall. Garland (Texas) Lakeview Centen- nial product Camar Wheaton head- lines the list of those who have been offered. Rivals rates him as a five-star talent, and the No. 1 running back and No. 7 overall recruit in the na- tion. Wheaton visited Notre Dame in the summer and, although the Irish have an uphill battle to pull him out of Texas, getting him on campus be- fore the start of his junior season is an uplifting start. Notre Dame landed Chester (Va.) Thomas Dale star Chris Tyree, the No. 2 all-purpose back and No. 40 overall talent in the 2020 class, and Matthews (N.C.) High do-it-all back Will Shipley fits a similar mold. Ri- vals lists him as a four-star recruit, and the No. 1 all-purpose back and No. 53 overall prospect in the 2021 class. The Irish offered Shipley dur- ing the spring, and he plans to visit South Bend when the Fighting Irish host archrival USC Oct. 12. Notre Dame also has an offer out to West Bloomfield (Mich.) High junior running back Donovan Edwards. He visited Notre Dame earlier this year for a basketball game and is look- ing to return to South Bend this fall. Rivals rates Edwards as a four-star talent, and the No. 4 running back and No. 89 overall player nationally. The wide receiver board for the Fighting Irish also is strong. Position coach Del Alexander has a chance to assemble a group of highly ranked prospects in his area of the country. There are three West Coast receiv- ers who are top-100 prospects and have already visited Notre Dame — Steilacoom (Wash.) High's Emeka Egbuka, the No. 1 wide receiver and No. 12 overall player nationally per Rivals; Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco's Beaux Collins, the No. 3 wideout and No. 21 overall recruit in the country; and Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei's Cristian Dixon, the No. 14 pass catcher and No. 74 overall prospect in the land. At this point, Notre Dame has more work to do to become a bigger contender in Egbuka's recruitment. But the Irish may be in the pole posi- tion for Dixon, while Collins has the Fighting Irish in his top three. Lorenzo Styles Jr. is an Ohio State legacy — with his father having played for the Buckeyes in the early 1990s — but the Irish may actually be the team to beat in his recruitment. The nation's No. 4 wide receiver and No. 28 overall recruit per Rivals is in consistent communication with of- fensive coordinator Chip Long. Styles' top schools are Auburn, Notre Dame and Ohio State, but the latter two are the main contenders. In the Southeast, Notre Dame has four offers out to 2021 receiver pros- pects, and the most likely recruit the Irish can land from that group is Ath- ens (Ga.) Academy playmaker Deion Colzie, the nation's No. 6 athlete and No. 95 overall prospect according to Rivals. While he will be a tough get, living right down the road from Georgia, Colzie has indicated that Notre Dame is his dream school. He is one to watch this fall. The Irish have also offered Atlanta Hapeville Charter 's Jaquez Smith (No. 22 wide receiver and No. 113 overall recruit nationally per Rivals) and Zachary's (La.) Chris Hilton (Ri- vals' No. 9 wideout and No. 40 over- all prospect nationally), but we don't expect much movement to happen in either recruitment. Plant City (Fla.) dynamic receiver Mario Williams, Rivals' No. 8 wide- out and No. 39 overall recruit in the land, placed Notre Dame among his top 15 during the summer, but the Irish have a lot of work to do in his recruitment. The way it is trending, Notre Dame has a strong chance to follow up an elite 2020 offensive skill class with possibly a better one in 2021. ✦ Camar Wheaton of Garland (Texas) Lakeview Centennial — a five-star recruit and the coun- try's No. 1 running back and No. 7 overall player nationally per Rivals — picked up a Notre Dame offer after visiting the school this summer. PHOTO BY SAM SPIEGELMAN/COURTESY RIVALS.COM Breaking Down Notre Dame's 2021 Efforts At The Offensive Skill Positions