Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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13 Left In '13 Sophomore class hanging in despite attrition O By Lou Somogyi n National Signing Day in 2012, Notre Dame signed the second smallest football class in its history with 16 players. (Only the 15-man unit in 2005 — during the transition from head coaches Tyrone Willingham to Charlie Weis — was smaller.) Added to the 2012 harvest a few weeks later was Arizona wide receiver Davonte' Neal to increase the number to 17. However, just a month later, cornerback recruit Tee Shepard left Notre Dame reportedly because of an NCAA Clearinghouse issue, among other factors (he enrolled at Holmes Community College in Mississippi), returning the number back to 16. Three other members of this class — Neal, quarterback Gunner Kiel and wide receiver Justin Ferguson — departed the program this spring and brought the number of scholarship sophomores down to 13 in 2013. This is not unusual in college football, where attrition for myriad reasons is inevitable each year. This year's graduated seniors, led by linebacker Manti Te'o and tight end Tyler Eifert, had 15 players remaining from its original 18. The current seniors, head coach Brian Kelly's first haul, had 23 sign, but only 18 are now available, including career-ending injuries to running back Cameron Roberson and offensive tackle Tate Nichols. Among the juniors, 24 arrived and 21 are now available, including defensive lineman Chase Hounshell, who will sit out a second straight season because of a torn labrum. Unfortunately, even when the original sophomore class signed in February 2012, much of the storylines revolved around not so much who was coming but the four who had jumped ship after previously issuing verbal commitments: • Linebacker/athlete David Perkins and offensive tackle Taylor Decker both switched to Ohio State. Decker is now listed as OSU's No. 1 right tackle, but Perkins has left the Buckeyes' program. • Cornerback Ronald Darby decommitted in January and cast his lot with Florida State — and joined Notre Dame's KeiVarae Russell as the two corners on the Football Writers Association of America 2012 All-Freshman team. • On the eve of National Signing Day, wide receiver Deontay Greenberry switched to the University of Houston. Last year, he was the Cou-