Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1478022
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com SEPT. 10, 2022 43 PREP PROFILES Nashville (Tenn.) Lipscomb Acad- emy's Kaleb Beasley is a player with whom Fighting Irish fans need to get familiar. The Notre Dame staff has Beasley rated as a top-of-the-board prospect. He is listed as the No. 26 cornerback and No. 210 overall recruit nationally according to On3's class of 2024 rank- ings. Blue & Gold Illustrated spoke with Beasley about his communication with the Irish staff following his high school game Aug. 19. "It's going really well," he said. "I just talked to them with my dad before my game. The relationship is great with Coach [Mike] Mickens, Coach [Chris] O'Leary and Coach [Marcus] Freeman. It's been great. "We were talking about my upcoming game, and they told me they wanted me to call them after it, too." Beasley dominated at Notre Dame's Irish Invasion camp in early June. He wanted to get back to campus at the end of July but wasn't able to. His June visit left a lasting impression, though. "Definitely Coach Freeman — it was my first time talking to him in-person," Beasley said regarding highlights of the Irish Invasion trip. "He's a very humble man and being a Black head coach in college football is big. A lot of people respect him for that. "I definitely love Coach Freeman. He knows how to connect with families and his players. It's great." Other Irish coaches stand out to him as well. " T h ey 're g rea t ," h e sa i d . " Eve n Coach [Al] Golden took me around with Coach O'Leary during my visit. It was a lot of fun. I hung out with [Notre Dame 2024 quarterback commit] CJ [Carr] the whole time during my visit too." It's early for Beasley, but Notre Dame is considered by some pundits as the team to beat in his recruitment. "The academic part, definitely," Bea- sley said when asked about his favor- ite aspect about Notre Dame. "A lot of schools just focus on the football part but graduating with a Notre Dame de- gree would be really big." Next up for Beasley is focusing on his junior season, and then he will spend more time on his recruitment. Beasley is already booked to visit Tennessee's home game against Florida Sept. 24 and LSU when the Tigers host Mississippi State Sept. 17. He's also looking at trips to Notre Dame's home contest against Clemson in November and Michigan's home date with Penn State in October. Visits to Oklahoma and Penn State are also being discussed. — Mike Singer As more focus turns to the 2024 cycle, Notre Dame fans will be reading more about Largo (Fla.) High linebacker Adarius Hayes. Ranked as the No. 5 linebacker and No. 45 overall prospect per On3, Hayes is a key target for the Fighting Irish staff. They offered him a scholarship back in March on Pot of Gold day — a recruiting initiative for the Irish coaches on St. Patrick's Day — and hosted the four-star for a Blue-Gold Game visit in April. "The atmosphere is crazy," Hayes told Blue & Gold Illustrated about Notre Dame. "With Coach [Al] Golden and Coach [Marcus] Freeman, they're great, and they're high on me. I got to meet the players and recruits on the visit too." Hayes has built a strong connection with the Notre Dame staff and raved about the Irish's first-year defensive coordinator and director of recruiting. "I love Coach Golden; that's my dude right there," Hayes added. "I talk to Coach [Chad] Bowden a lot, too. I love him; he has a lot of energy." The 6-4, 210-pounder communi- cates often with those two Notre Dame staffers along with head coach Marcus Freeman. "He's a great coach," Hayes said of Freeman. "He's going to do great things with the team this year." Notre Dame is making its pitch of strong academics and a brotherhood on campus to its key targets. "When I went up there, Indiana was a lot different than what I'm used to in Florida, and the campus is sweet," he said. "The stadium is huge. I want to go up there for the Clemson game, and I can't even imagine what that's going to be like. That will be a big deal." Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Ohio State and Oklahoma are just a few of the other schools that he's liking early on as well, but a commitment from Hayes won't come until next calendar year, and he's far from narrowing things down. "I'm open," he said. While he's listed as a linebacker, Hayes could also be an edge rusher at the next level. — Mike Singer Tennessee Cornerback Is Clicking With Notre Dame Staff Florida Defender Is Looking Forward To Return Visit ADARIUS HAYES ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ Largo H.S. Largo, Fla. Status: Offered Class: 2024 Position: Linebacker Ht.: 6-4 • Wt.: 210 On3 Rankings: No. 10 pros- pect in Florida, and the No. 5 linebacker and No. 45 overall player in the country KALEB BEASLEY ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ Lipscomb Academy Nashville, Tenn. Status: Offered Class: 2024 Position: Cornerback Ht.: 6-0 • Wt.: 180 On3 Rankings: No. 4 player in Tennessee, and No. 26 cornerback and No. 210 overall recruit nationally "The stadium is huge. I want to go up there for the Clemson game, and I can't even imagine what that's going to be like. That will be a big deal." Hayes