Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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52 NOV. 6, 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED FOOTBALL RECRUITING ROUNDUP RECRUITING NOTES • Lafayette (La.) St. Thomas More's Walker How- ard, the nation's No. 2 pro-style quarterback and No. 26 overall player in the 2022 class per Rivals, took an official visit to Notre Dame Oct. 23. Howard, who is a longtime Tigers commitment and son of a former LSU quarterback, had a great time on campus. "We had a great time," Howard's father, Jamie, said. "The history and the culture there is so im- pressive. … The tradition there is great, and the culture is so different than what we're used to. "[Brian] Kelly and [Tommy] Rees were both super impressive. Walker was super impressed." What happens next in Howard's recruitment will likely be determined by who LSU hires as its head coach to replace Ed Orgeron. • While Rees and Co. are still not done recruiting the quarterback spot in 2022, they're also busy working on future classes, too. In recent years, Notre Dame typically offers two or three quarter- backs in a given cycle, but the Irish dished out their seventh offer to a signal-caller in the 2023 class (six of them remain uncommitted). Birmingham (Ala.) Briarwood Christian's Christopher Vizzina, the nation's No. 4 dual-threat quarterback and No. 17 player from Alabama, received the good news from Rees Oct. 27. "I'm extremely excited," Vizzina said about his new offer. "Being able to play at a place where God is a huge part of the program is a blessing." • Notre Dame extended its first scholarship offer of the 2025 class — yes, a high school freshman — Oct. 23. Findlay (Ohio) High quarterback Ryan Montgomery received the good news. He is the younger brother of class of 2023 defensive line target Luke Montgomery, the No. 82 overall player in America. "It was a very exciting and surreal moment," Montgomery said. "Coach Rees gave me the news, and after that, I talked to Coach Kelly. "It was great. That was my first time meeting them, and they are great guys. They're coaching at such a high level at Notre Dame, so I soak up as much as possible when I talk to those guys." After a slow start out of the gates for Findlay this season, Montgomery was inserted as the team's starting quarterback, and the Trojans won five consecutive contests heading into its postseason, which began Oct. 29. He completed 134 of 229 passes for 1,840 yards with 23 touchdowns and five interceptions through eight games. — Mike Singer Quarterback Steve Angeli, 6-3, 215, Oradell, N.J. (Bergen Catholic) Walker Howard, 6-0, 186, Lafayette, La. (St. Thomas More) Running Back Jadarian Price, 5-11, 175, Denison, Texas (Denison) Wide Receiver Xayvion Bradshaw, 6-0, 185, Bluefield, Va. (Graham) Joseph Griffin, 6-4, 195, Springfield, Mass. (Central) Wesley Grimes, 6-2, 173, Raleigh, N.C. (Millbrook) Tobias Merriweather, 6-4, 180, Vancouver, Wash. (Union) Amorion Walker, 6-3, 170, Ponchatoula, La. (Ponchatoula) CJ Williams, 6-2, 193, Santa Ana, Calif. (Mater Dei) Tight End Eli Raridon, 6-6, 220, West Des Moines, Iowa (Valley) Holden Staes, 6-4, 230, Atlanta (Westminster) Offensive Line Ty Chan, 6-6, 265, Groton, Mass. (Lawrence Academy) Ashton Craig, 6-5, 275, Lawrenceburg, Ind. (Lawrenceburg) Billy Schrauth, 6-5, 280, Fond du Lac, Wis. (St. Mary's Springs) Joey Tanona, 6-5, 290, Zionsville, Ind. (Zionsville) Aamil Wagner, 6-6, 255, Huber Heights, Ohio (Wayne) Defensive End Alex Bauman, 6-4, 225, Red Bank, N.J. (Red Bank Catholic) Tyson Ford, 6-6, 250, St. Louis (John Burroughs School) Aiden Gobaira, 6-5, 225, Chantilly, Va. (Chantilly) Anthony Lucas, 6-5, 285, Scottsdale, Ariz. (Chaparral) Defensive Tackle Donovan Hinish, 6-2, 270, Pittsburgh (Central Catholic) Hero Kanu, 6-5, 293, Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. (Santa Margarita Catholic) Linebacker Joshua Burnham, 6-3, 200, Traverse City, Mich. (Traverse City Central) Jaylen Sneed, 6-1, 207, Hilton Head, S.C. (Hilton Head) Niuafe Tuihalamaka, 6-3, 230, Mission Hills, Calif. (Bishop Alemany) Nolan Ziegler, 6-4, 205, Grand Rapids, Mich. (Catholic Central) Cornerback Austin Ausberry, Baton Rouge, La. (University Laboratory School) Jayden Bellamy, 6-1, 175, Oradell, N.J. (Bergen Catholic) Jaden Mickey, 5-11, 165, Corona, Calif. (Centennial) Devin Moore, 6-3, 182, Naples, Fla. (Naples) Benjamin Morrison, 6-0, 172, Phoenix (Brophy Prep) Safety Xavier Nwankpa, 6-2, 185, Pleasant Hill, Iowa (Southeast Polk) Athlete Carson Tabaracci, 6-3, 230, Park Hill, Utah (Park Hill) Commitments in bold italics Class Of 2022 Scholarship Offer Master List 2022 Master List Changes Prospects Committed: None. Prospects Decommitted: None. Prospects Removed: DE DJ Wesolak of Boonville, Mo. (no longer being recruited by Notre Dame). RIVALS 2022 TEAM RECRUITING RANKINGS As of Oct. 29 Rk. School Commits Rk. School Commits 1. Georgia 21 2. Notre Dame 21 3. Alabama 17 4. Penn State 25 5. Texas 22 6. Ohio State 16 7. Oregon 22 8. Oklahoma 16 9. North Carolina 15 10. Florida State 16 Birmingham (Ala.) Briarwood Christian's Christopher Vizzina, the nation's No. 4 dual- threat quarterback and No. 17 player from Alabama, is the latest class of 2023 signal- caller to receive an offer from the Fighting Irish. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM Follow @rivals_singer on Twitter for daily recruiting updates on BlueandGold.com!