Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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40 FEBRUARY 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED FOOTBALL RECRUITING ROUNDUP RECRUITING NOTES • Notre Dame has already added former Virginia Tech wide receiver Kaleb Smith and one-time USF kicker Spencer Shrader via the transfer portal as scholarship players. The Fighting Irish are looking to add more players as well. There is a dead period in place for high school recruits — which means no face-to-face contact with college coaches — in early January, but there is a window from Jan. 4-8 for transfer players to visit colleges. Stay tuned to BlueandGold.com for the latest updates, but going into that window there were a few players we were keeping an eye on. • The most notable potential transfer is former Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman, who threw for 12,967 yards and an ACC-record 110 touch- down passes in five seasons at Wake Forest. On Jan. 2, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that Hartman is expected to choose Notre Dame and that it's just a matter of time before it becomes official. Blue & Gold Illustrated is being told the same thing, per sources. Hartman would give the Irish quarterback room a big boost with his experience. He would have one year of eligibility at Notre Dame. • The Irish are also looking at adding former Arkansas safety Jalen Cata- lon to boost its secondary. Catalon suffered season-ending shoulder injury in September and also suffered the same injury in 2021. It's our under- standing that he has two years of eligibility left. In 21 career games, Catalon has posted 159 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 3 forced fumbles, 14 passes broken up and 5 interceptions (one returned for a touchdown). • Notre Dame is also after former Utah State defensive end Byron Vaughns. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound edge player had 56 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks and 1 forced fumble in 11 games this season. Vaughns' 2023 home will be his third college football team. He spent 2018-20 at Texas and played in 13 games for the Longhorns. He has one year of eligibil- ity remaining and will be a sixth-year player in 2023. — Mike Singer Follow @MikeTSinger on Twitter for recruiting updates! Cornerback Omillio Agard, HHH, 6-0, 170, Philadelphia (St. Joseph's Prep) Kobe Black, HHHH, 6-0½, 190, Waco, Texas (Connally) Eli Bowen, HHH, 5-10, 165, Denton, Texas (Guyer) Zabien Brown, HHHH, 6-1, 170, Santa Ana, Calif. (Mater Dei) Aaron Butler, HHHH, 6-0, 170, Calabasas, Calif. (Calabasas) Dakoda Fields, HHHH, 6-1½, 175, Gardena, Calif. (Junipero Serra) Xavier Filsaime, HHHH, 5-11½, 180, McKinney, Texas (McKinney) Karson Hobbs, HHH, 6-1, 180, Cincinnati (Archbishop Moeller) Bradon Lee, HHHH, 5-11½, 160, Springdale, Md. (Charles Herbert Flowers) Charles Lester III, HHHH, 6-2, 171, Sarasota, Fla. (Riverview) Jon Mitchell, HHHH, 5-11, 170, Jacksonville, Fla. (Madarin)* Terhyon Nichols, HHHH, 5-10, 170, Cincinnati (Withrow) Aaron Scott Jr., HHHH, 5-11½, 165, Springfield, Ohio (Springfield) Troy Stevenson, HHH, 6-0, 165, Charleston, S.C. (Phillip Simmons) Bryce West, HHHH, 5-11½, 175, Cleveland (Glenville) Marcelles Williams, HHHH, 5-11, 165, Bellflower, Calif. (St. John Bosco) Safety Travaris Banks, HHHH, 6-1, 185, Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Northridge) KJ Bolden, HHHH, 6-0, 185, Buford, Ga. (Buford) Noah Dixon, HHHH, 6-0, 175, Lagrange, Ga. (Troup County) Shamir Fredericks, 6-4, 170, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Canarsie) Marquis Gallegos, HHHH, 6-1, 165, West Hills, Calif. (Chaminade) Corian Gipson, HHHH, 6-0, 165, Lancaster, Texas (Lancaster) Ricardo Jones, HHHH, 6-3, 190, Warner Robins, Ga. (Northside) Zay Mincey, HHHH, 6-3, 180, Daytona Beach, Fla. (Mainland) Jaylen McClain, HHHH, 5-11½, 185, West Orange, N.J. (Seton Hall Prep) Jacob Oden, HHHH, 6-0½, 185, Harper Woods, Mich. (Harper Woods) Zaquan Patterson, HHHH, 6-0½, 185, Miami Gardens, Fla. (Chaminade-Madonna Prep) Kaj Sanders, HHHH, 6-1½, 180, Oradell, N.J. (Bergen Catholic) Damian Thompson, HHHH, 6-0, 170, Florence, Ala. (Mars Hill Bible) Vaboue Toure, HHHH, 6-1, 190, Irvington, N.J. (Irvington) Peyton Woodyard, HHHH, 6-1, 190, Bellflower, Calif. (St. John Bosco) Athlete Marcus Goree, HHH, 6-1, 170, Cleveland, Tenn. (Bradley Central) Tae Johnson, HHHH, 6-3, 170, Fort Wayne, Ind. (North Side) Dejuan Lane, HHH, 6-3, 195, Baltimore (Gilman) Quinton Martin, HHHH, 6-1½, 185, Belle Vernon, Pa. (Belle Vernon) Mike Matthews, HHHH, 6-0½, 180, Lilburn, Ga. (Parkview) Jason Mitchell, HHHH, 6-3, 180, Los Angeles (Junipero Serra) Bryce Young, HHHH, 6-4, 215, Charlotte, N.C. (Catholic) Star ratings are from On3 as of Jan. 2 Commitments in bold italics *Received an offer from Notre Dame between Dec. 14 and Jan. 2 2024 Master List Changes Prospects Committed: RB Aneyas Williams of Hannibal, Mo. Prospects Decommitted: None. Prospects Removed: WR Jeremiah Smith of Hollywood, Fla. (committed to Ohio State); DT Omar White of Valdosta, Ga. (committed to Colorado); and CB Ellis Robinson IV of Bradenton, Fla. (no longer considering Notre Dame). Notre Dame is reportedly pursuing Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman in the transfer portal. He was a third-team All-ACC pick in 2022. PHOTO BY ETHAN HYMAN/COURTESY ACC MEDIA ON3 CONSENSUS 2024 TEAM RECRUITING RANKINGS As of Jan. 2 1. Alabama 5 2. Ohio State 3 3. Georgia 6 4. Notre Dame 7 5. Florida 3 6. Florida State 8 7. LSU 8 8. Michigan State 3 9. Oregon 4 10. USC 3 Rk. School Commits Rk. School Commits