Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1498430
UNDER THE DOME BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM JUNE/JULY 2023 9 play his final season. The Panthers come to Notre Dame Stadium Oct. 28. • Running back C'Bo Flemister: A graduate transfer in 2022, Flemister spent last year at Pitt and is back for a sixth year. • Wide receiver Joe Wilkins Jr.: He played for Notre Dame from 2018‑22 and became a graduate transfer to Mi‑ ami (Ohio) for the 2023 season. • Wide receiver Lawrence Keys III: He is back at Tulane for a sixth season of college football after finishing fourth on the Green Wave in catches (30) last year. He left Notre Dame as a graduate trans‑ fer during the 2021 season. • Tight end George Takacs: He spent four years at Notre Dame (2018‑21), transferred to Boston College in 2022 and caught 26 passes for 256 yards last sea‑ son. He is back with the Eagles for 2023. • Defensive end Ovie Oghoufo: Another three‑school player, Oghoufo reunited with Brian Kelly at LSU in Jan‑ uary after spending the last two years at Texas. He made 20 starts in his two seasons with the Longhorns. • Defensive tackle Ja'Mion Frank- lin: The 2023 season will be Franklin's third at Duke, where he started all 12 games last year. He spent three seasons at Notre Dame (2018‑20). • L i n e ba c ke r S h ay n e S i m o n : A fo u r‑yea r m e m b e r o f t h e I r i s h (2018‑21), Simon landed at Pitt in 2023 and was a 13‑game starter. He returned to the Panthers for a sixth season. • Linebacker Paul Moala: A gradu‑ ate transfer departure last winter, Moala picked Idaho and finished fourth on the team in tackles last year (61). He is back for Year 6 of college football, but en‑ tered the transfer portal April 26 to ex‑ plore other options for where to play it. • Safety Derrik Allen: He spent his freshman year at Notre Dame and trans‑ ferred to Georgia Tech in 2019. He went in the portal again after the 2022 season and chose North Carolina as his 2023 destination. THE REST OF THE 2018 NOTRE DAME SIGNING CLASS • Declined sixth year in 2023: Wide receiver Braden Lenzy, defensive end Justin Ademilola and offensive line‑ man Jarrett Patterson. • Never redshirted but played five full seasons at Notre Dame using the COVID waiver: Defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola, linebacker Bo Bauer, cornerback TaRiq Bracy and safety Houston Griffith. • Ended career after four seasons: Wide receiver Kevin Austin Jr. (NFL Draft) and offensive lineman John Dirk‑ sen (retired from football). • Ended career after two or three seasons: Tight end Tommy Tremble (NFL Draft) and offensive lineman Cole Mabry (retired due to medical reasons). • Transferred but ended career shy of six seasons: Running back Jah‑ mir Smith (Appalachian State), wide receiver Micah Jones (Illinois State), of‑ fensive lineman Luke Jones (Arkansas), linebacker Jack Lamb (Colorado) and defensive back Noah Boykin (UMass). INCOMING SIXTH-YEAR TRANSFERS • Quarterback Sam Hartman: The ACC's all‑time leader in touchdown passes started 45 games in five seasons at Wake Forest. He chose Notre Dame in January. • Defensive end Javontae Jean- Baptiste: A role player at Ohio State from 2019‑22 after redshirting 2018, he will play at Notre Dame in 2023. ✦ Graduate Transfer Wide Receiver Kaleb Smith Retires From Football Kaleb Smith called his transfer to Notre Dame and the reunion with quarterback Sam Hartman it brought a "full circle" moment. He will not, though, end up staying for the fully allotted time. Smith, a graduate transfer receiver from Virginia Tech, has left the team and decided to step away from football, he said in a state- ment April 15. He enrolled in January with one season of eligibility remaining. "After countless hours of prayer and thought, I believe my time playing this game has passed," Smith's statement read. "What is more important to me now is my future after football, and to achieve that, I must focus on my mental and physical health, which has taken a great toll throughout the years." Notre Dame added Smith in December to bring a veteran with a track record of pro- duction into a talented but largely unproven receiver unit. Smith's 674 yards at Virginia Tech in 2022 are more than all but one of the other scholarship receivers have amassed in their careers. Prior to spring practice, he was one of two seniors or graduate students in the receiver room, which has six players with three or four years of eligibility left. Smith chose Notre Dame over UCLA as a transfer. The 2023 season was set to be his sixth in college football. He played his first five years at Virginia Tech, beginning as a walk-on freshman in 2018 and ending as a starter and team captain. He was originally committed to Wake Forest as a scholarship player and part of the same Demon Deacons recruiting class as Hartman. "Me and Sam, we were planning on being freshman roommates," Smith said. Those plans didn't work out at Wake Forest. Their time as a quarterback-receiver duo at Notre Dame won't go beyond a few spring practices and winter throwing sessions. The 6-foot-2, 222-pound Smith had 74 catches for 1,143 yards and 7 touchdowns during his Virginia Tech career. — Patrick Engel Smith, who had 74 career catches for 1,143 yards and 7 touchdowns during his time at Virginia Tech before transferring to Notre Dame, decided to step away from football in April. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER