Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MAY 2020 35 • Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy interior offen- sive lineman Greg Crippen committed to Notre Dame in March 2019. However, the nation's No. 129 overall player visited Michigan last Au- gust, and at that point Blue & Gold Illustrated re- ported that Crippen was not expected to remain with his Fighting Irish pledge in a mutual parting of ways. It took a lot longer than anticipated, but Crippen announced his decommitment March 4 in a classy message on Twitter. "I want to thank the Notre Dame staff and fans for their unwavering support and patience as I navigated the recruitment process," he said. "Throughout the past months, I have learned a lot about myself, grown as an athlete and ma- tured as an individual. … I am decommitting from the University of Notre Dame and reopening my recruitment." A couple weeks after his decommitment, Crip- pen gave a pledge to the Michigan Wolverines. • Notre Dame class of 2021 quarterback pledge Tyler Buchner will finish his decorated prep ca- reer at a different school. Buchner played his first three seasons at La Jolla (Calif.) The Bishop's School, but he is transferring to La Mesa (Calif.) Helix Charter for his senior cam- paign. The Highlanders finished the 2019 season with an 11-2 record and graduated their starting quarterback, Kamryn Brown, from last fall. Buchner led Bishop's to an undefeated record before falling in the 2019 California Interscho- lastic Federation San Diego Division II sectional final. At Helix Charter, he will be playing in San Diego's open division, the biggest in the area. His new school, which he'll start attending this fall, has about 2,500 students, triple the size of The Bishop's School. "First and foremost, Tyler has had a great ex- perience at Bishop's and will always love his coaches, teachers, classmates and teammates," the Buchner family said in a released statement. "It is a special school and he is grateful for all it has done for him. "This was a really hard decision. It started be- cause of his interest in enrolling early at Notre Dame and was centered around his focus on being the best student-athlete he can be. Ulti- mately, we all agreed that this would be best for our family and Tyler." Rivals ranks Buchner as the nation's No. 2 dual- threat quarterback and No. 43 overall prospect. • A week before the NCAA enacted a dead pe- riod to run through the rest of the spring due to COVID-19, Napa (Calif.) High's Brock Bowers, the No. 6 tight end and No. 106 overall recruit in the country per Rivals, was able to visit Notre Dame. Highlights of his visit included conversations with offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, director of football performance Matt Balis, new tight ends coach John McNulty and head coach Brian Kelly. "They said want me as a tight end, but if I were down on the depth chart they'd be willing to switch me defense to get me on the field," Bow- ers said. "That was cool." Bowers has a top eight schools list of California, Georgia, Notre Dame, Oregon, Oregon State, Penn State, UCLA and Washington. — Mike Singer Follow @BGI_MikeSinger on Twitter for daily recruiting updates! FOOTBALL RECRUITING ROUNDUP BlueAndGold.com Football Recruiting Is HERE! * *Use Promo Code IRISH60 Go behind the scenes with exclusive coverage on the Irish throughout the season. In-depth analysis by our seasoned experts in the field. Breaking news, team and individual rankings, features on every commitment, over 10 years of archived recruiting information. See all of tomorrow's top Irish prospects in action on our top quality prospect videos. Interact with other Notre Dame fans across the country and discuss the state of the Irish. Daily Team Coverage Expert Analysis Recruiting Scoop Prospect Videos Lively Message Boards Napa (Calif.) High's Brock Bowers, Rivals' No. 6 tight end and No. 106 overall player nationally, visited South Bend in early March and has Notre Dame among his top eight schools. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM Notre Dame quarterback commit Tyler Buchner, who will transfer to La Mesa (Calif.) Helix Charter for his final year of high school, is ranked by Rivals as the nation's No. 43 overall prospect. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM RECRUITING NOTES