Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com AUGUST 2021 35 BY MIKE SINGER Lawrenceburg (Ind.) High offen- sive lineman Ashton Craig entered June without having much contact — if any — with the Notre Dame coach- ing staff. But he ended the month on the Irish's 2022 commitment list. Craig was all over the Midwest in June. He took official visits to Ne- braska and Northwestern, respectively, the first two weekends of the month. He camped at Michigan, received an offer from the Wolverines and visited Ann Arbor again during the weekend of June 18. He also camped at Notre Dame June 15 and Ohio State June 22. The Irish staff communicated to Craig that it planned to offer him a scholarship when he came on cam- pus for his official visit June 25-27, but the tender occurred the same day he was at Ohio State. His camp performance at Notre Dame was too good. The Irish staff didn't need to wait any longer to offer. "They were texting me a little bit throughout [June] and wanted me to come for their camp so they could see me in person," Craig said. "They were really impressed with what they saw. "They solidified that they wanted me for sure and didn't want me to go up there worried about if I'd get the offer during the visit." It seemed like a foregone conclu- sion that Craig would pick Notre Dame after receiving his offer from the Irish. Although Lawrenceburg is more of a Cincinnati suburb, Craig is an in-state kid who felt strongly about Notre Dame growing up. As long as he saw South Bend as a fit for what he was looking for, a commit- ment was likely to take place. He planned on telling head coach Brian Kelly of his decision on June 27 before his official visit ended. How- ever, Craig informed offensive co- ordinator Tommy Rees that he was committing the day prior during a meeting, and he announced his deci- sion the evening of June 26. "I couldn't wait any longer," Craig said. "We got to celebrate that over the weekend, which was good. "Notre Dame provides an elite educa- tion, and it can help you develop physi- cally and spiritually. I'm very confident in my decision after spending time on campus with the staff and players. It was home for me when I got there." His player host during the visit was offensive lineman Jarrett Pat- terson. He felt a strong camaraderie among position coach Jeff Quinn's group. Between the Notre Dame players, coaches and other recruits there, Craig loved it all. "I loved being around the guys," Craig added. "I could tell that they're a unit; it's like a brotherhood. I'm excited to be a part of that. Spending time with them, it just clicked. The coaches and the rest of the staff were second to none. They welcomed me as part of the family. It felt like home. "[Irish offensive line commits] Ty Chan and Joey Tanona were really fun to be around. They reminded me of myself — laid back — but I can tell they get their work done when it's time to go. They were really good guys." Notre Dame is telling Craig that he will play one of the three interior offen- sive line positions and will most likely start out playing center. Quinn and Rees were able to see his talents with their own eyes during Notre Dame's prospect camp, which is a novelty after the dead period wiped out in-person evaluations for nearly 15 months. "I worked closely with Coach Quinn during the offensive line drills," Craig recalled. "He's a great guy. You can tell he's a down-to- earth, nice guy, but when he's on the football field, he wants to push you to be the best player you can be. Coach Rees is really cool, too. "Overall, it was a really good camp. I guess they liked what they saw." Rivals lists Craig with a 5.6 recruit ranking, the mid-level designation for a three-star prospect. Addition- ally, he is Rivals' No. 12 player in In- diana and the No. 64 offensive tackle in the country. Craig helped lead Lawrenceburg to an 11-2 season in 2020. The Tigers reached the Indiana Class 3A state championship game but fell 49-28 to Huntingburg (Ind.) Southridge. He helped pave the way for Law- renceburg to rush for 2,785 yards and 40 scores on 435 carries last season, per MaxPreps. The team averaged 214.2 rushing yards per game and 6.4 yards per carry. Craig had scholarship offers from Boston College, Florida State, Indi- ana, Iowa, Purdue, Vanderbilt, Baylor, Duke, Iowa State and Wake Forest. He also held a handful of non-Power Five offers, including Ivy League schools. ✦ FILM ANALYSIS "The best thing [Ashton Craig] provides overall is his athleticism. For his size and the way that he can move and bend, he's one of the more athletic linemen in the country. He brings tenacity and is an attention-to-detail kid as far as game plan and studying film goes. "He's going to bring an edge, a chip on his shoulder, and play to the whistle. He has a mighty motor." — Lawrenceburg head coach Ryan Knigga COMMITMENT PROFILE ASHTON CRAIG Fighting Irish Win Out For Fast-Rising 2022 Offensive Lineman Rivals lists Craig as a three-star recruit, the No. 12 player in Indiana and the No. 64 offensive tackle in the nation. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM "I loved being around the guys. I could tell that they're a unit; it's like a brotherhood. I'm excited to be a part of that. Spending time with them, it just clicked. The coaches and the rest of the staff were second to none. They welcomed me as part of the family. It felt like home." CRAIG ON JOINING NOTRE DAME'S OFFENSIVE LINE GROUP