Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com JUNE/JULY 2020 41 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 RECRUITING NOTES • Maybe Notre Dame's biggest target on the board for the 2021 class was Matthews (N.C.) Weddington running back Will Shipley, but the nation's No. 36 overall prospect picked the Clemson Tigers over the Fighting Irish in May. "Notre Dame did an absolutely incredible job," Shipley told Rivals in an interview about his decision. "Coach [Lance] Taylor, Coach [Brian] Kelly and Coach [Tommy] Rees — the push that they made really over the last month made it very, very close at one point. "Looking back and putting this in God's hands, he showed me what I needed to see. Clemson, in my mind, is no question the place that I need to be at." In the 24 hours after Shipley announced his decision, Notre Dame offered three new running back prospects. Metairie (La.) Rummel's Logan Diggs, the No. 41 running back nationally according to Rivals; Cypress (Texas) Fairbank's LJ Johnson, the No. 4 ball carrier in the land; and Conroe (Texas) Oak Ridge's Alton McCaskill, a Rivals three-star talent, all picked up offers from the Fighting Irish. It would come as little surprise to see Notre Dame offer a few more running backs, including Buford (Ga.) High's Gabe Ervin, the No. 20 running back in the country per Rivals. • The Irish dished out an offer to class of 2021 offensive tackle Tristan Bounds, a 6-8, 280-pounder from Wallingford (Conn.) Choate Rosemary Hall, on May 1. Just a couple hours after landing the tender, he included Notre Dame among his top eight schools with Boston College, Maryland, Michigan, Texas, Vanderbilt, Virginia and Virginia Tech. "It's really storied; the tradition there is amazing," Bounds said of Notre Dame. "They compete for national championships, and obviously, the aca- demic tradition there is very impressive as well." Bounds hasn't been to Notre Dame yet and is unsure of when he'll be able to get to South Bend for a campus visit, but notes that he is high on the program. "I'm super interested," he said. • Notre Dame extended an offer to Joshua Moore, a class of 2021 safety prospect who attends a school which Irish fans should be familiar. The 6-2, 192-pounder attends Atlanta Marist, previously the home to current Notre Dame sophomore safety Kyle Hamilton. Moore played cornerback in 2018 for Marist when Hamilton was a senior. He still keeps in contact with his former prep teammate and was excited to add Notre Dame to his offer list. While Rivals ranks Moore as a three-star prospect and the No. 39 safety in the land, he holds 38 scholarship offers, including Nebraska, Stanford, Virginia, Wake Forest and Yale. — Mike Singer Follow @BGI_MikeSinger on Twitter for daily recruiting updates! RIVALS 2021 TEAM RECRUITING RANKINGS As of May 12 1. Ohio State 18 2. Tennessee 21 3. Clemson 10 4. USC 11 5. Florida 13 6. North Carolina 14 7. Michigan 13 8. Minnesota 16 9. Notre Dame 10 10. Iowa 14 Rk. School Commits Rk. School Commits Tristan Bounds, a 6-8, 280-pound offensive tackle from Wallingford (Conn.) Choate Rosemary Hall, picked up an offer from Notre Dame May 1. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM