Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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46 SEPT. 9, 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED PREP PROFILES Damien Shanklin returned to the In- dianapolis Warren Central sideline, bent over and puked. The 2025 edge target had given every ounce of energy he had in the tank through two quarters against Fort Wayne (Ind.) Carroll High Aug. 25. And his body responded accordingly. "During the game, I was just really go- ing, going and going," Shanklin told Blue & Gold Illustrated after a gut-wrenching 18-14 road loss. "After the play, I rolled over, tried to get up, and the left tackle came down on my stomach. I lost all my air. After that, I came to the sideline and tried to get my air. Then, all the stuff that was going on with me came out." Shanklin muscled through the final two quarters in the face of exhaustion. He did it while battling a shoulder injury that limited him during practice last week. But he showed with his unrelenting motor why the Fighting Irish and 10 other Power Five programs have offered him a full ride. Shanklin squared off against Carroll High School's left tackle Caiden Abbs, a 6-4½, 275-pound junior who has drawn FCS-level interest. Shanklin beat him for 3 solo tackles, a sack, a quarterback pres- sure, a QB hit and 2 batted-down passes. While most of his battle against Abbs was physical, Shanklin used his football intellect early on in the game to achieve his only sack of the night. "The left tackle just set me weird the whole game," Shanklin said. "When I pass rushed, it was a lot of a bull rush. So then, I just got real, real wide and beat him with speed. "I dipped, and he wasn't able to touch me. So I just saw the quarterback, and I'm like, 'Now, I have to hit him.' It ended up being a sack." Shanklin said the "dip" move is his signature pass-rush technique. He even calls it a "ghost move." It's just one of the many attractive qualities that Notre Dame defensive line coach Al Wash- ington identified in Shanklin when he offered him a scholarship Aug. 9. "He seems like a great coach," Shank- lin said of Washington. "I already know about Notre Dame's environment just by watching games and stuff on You- Tube. Also, I know that [Warren Central D-lineman] Sheldon Day went there. When I watched his highlights at Notre Dame, they were just amazing. The offer from Notre Dame was very big." So far, Shanklin has reported eight unofficial college recruiting visits, in- cluding three to Indiana, two to Purdue and one each to Cincinnati, Iowa and Louisville. He plans to get up to Notre Dame for the first time for the Southern California game Oct. 14. — Kyle Kelly Phoenix Brophy Prep class of 2025 cornerback Cree Thomas didn't have any summer recruiting travels. He was more focused on improving his craft. But he'll certainly take trips this fall. He wants to get out to Notre Dame for the Ohio State game Sept. 23 or the USC contest Oct. 14. The 6-1, 170-pounder also wants to visit Oregon and Wiscon- sin this fall, but he doesn't have any vis- its locked in just yet. The Fighting Irish look like the team to beat for Thomas. Time will tell if Notre Dame can ultimately land him, but the staff is certainly putting in the work. On Aug. 1 — the first day college coaches were allowed to start directly contacting high school junior recruits (the current 2025 class) — Notre Dame called him as soon as they could. "Notre Dame was the first school to reach out to me," Thomas told Blue & Gold Illustrated. "They called me right at 12 a.m. That was really cool. I got to talk to Coach [Dre] Brown and Coach [Chad] Bowden." And that's 12 a.m. local time for Thomas, which meant it was 3 a.m. for the Irish staffers in South Bend. "I'm thankful to see that I'm that big of a priority to them," Thomas added. "They stayed up to 3:00 a.m. to call me." Thomas has only been to South Bend once with that trip occurring back in April. He hasn't been able to see the Notre Dame staff in a few months, but he's in contact with them often. "I'm keeping in touch with them on the phone — text messages and calls," he said. "I talk to them every other day. We keep in touch a lot. The relationship is really strong." Many of his calls with the Irish staff are on FaceTime when the coaches are all together. They'll pass the phone around so he can have conversations with several of them, including head coach Marcus Freeman. "Every time they call me, I eventually get to talk to Coach Freeman," Thomas said. "I talk to him a good amount. I love Coach Freeman; he's one of the coolest coaches I've talked to for sure." Thomas attends the same high school that produced Notre Dame sophomore Ben Morrison. When Thomas was a freshman at Brophy Prep, Morrison was a senior. "I feel like anytime I have a question about anything recruiting-wise, I go to Ben," Thomas explained. "I will ask him how do you feel about something or what did you do about etc. He's always someone I've looked up to, and I got to see his recruiting process a little bit." — Mike Singer In-State Pass Rusher Adds Notre Dame To Offer List Phoenix Cornerback Raves About Notre Dame Staff DAMIEN SHANKLIN ✪ ✪ ✪ Warren Central Indianapolis Status: Offered Class: 2025 Position: Edge Ht.: 6-5 • Wt.: 210 On3 Rankings: No. 2 player in Indiana, and No. 20 edge and No. 231 overall player nationally CREE THOMAS ✪ ✪ ✪ Brophy Prep Phoenix Status: Offered Class: 2025 Position: Cornerback Ht.: 6-1 • Wt.: 170 On3 Rankings: No. 4 player in Arizona and No. 34 corner- back nationally