Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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44 SEPT. 23, 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED FOOTBALL RECRUITING BY MIKE SINGER W hen Ohio State comes to town Sept. 23, Notre Dame will host its biggest recruiting event of the year in terms of sheer talent on campus. Many Notre Dame commits in the 2024 class will be on campus, and there will also be countless class of 2025 targets in South Bend. In the days leading up to the contest, BlueandGold.com will have daily re- ports on the prospects being added to the visit list. But as far as early con- firmations go, here are eight names to know. DANIEL ANDERSON Running Back • 5-11, 190 Class Of 2025 Bryant (Ark.) High On3 Rankings: Three-star recruit, No. 5 player in Arkansas and No. 40 running back nationally. The Skinny: He's visited Auburn and Arkansas thus far this season, but nei- ther SEC program has extended an offer to him just yet. The Irish dished out a scholarship to him back in the summer. Long Island was the only school to offer him at that point, but the Irish took the leap and extended a scholarship to him after Anderson impressed at the staff's Irish Invasion in early June. I've already logged an On3 insider prediction on BlueandGold.com for Anderson to land at Notre Dame, and there's a decent chance the class of 2025 player could pop in favor of the Irish if all goes well during his trip. DAVIS ANDREWS Safety • 6-2, 190 Class Of 2024 American Fork (Utah) High On3 Rankings: Three-star recruit, No. 7 player in Utah and No. 63 safety nationally. The Skinny: The three-star safety is the lone class of 2024 prospect on this list. It's essentially coming down to Notre Dame and Utah for the 6-foot-2, 190-pounder, and the feeling is that he'll be very close to making a decision after visiting South Bend. He went to Utah for the Utes' victory over Flor- ida earlier this season; the home state school has positioned itself well. We'll have a much better idea of the likelihood that Andrews picks Notre Dame after Sept. 23, but the current vibe is that the Fighting Irish are the team to beat. Andrews graduates from American Fork High this winter and then will embark on a two-year Mormon mis- sion trip. If he picks Notre Dame, he will sign a ceremonial letter of intent in December before leaving for his mis- sion in January 2024. He would return to Notre Dame in January 2026 as a true freshman. JADON BLAIR Safety • 6-4, 180 Class Of 2025 Winston-Salem (N.C.) Mount Tabor On3 Rankings: Four-star recruit, No. 3 player in North Carolina, and No. 2 safety and No. 26 overall player nationally. The Skinny: The Irish have a better chance to land the elite class of 2025 prospect from North Carolina than most people think. Blair added an offer from Notre Dame back in late April after impressing safeties coach Chris O'Leary during the spring evaluation period, and the four-star prospect visited South Bend at the end of July. He loved his experience on campus and raved about the Fighting Irish staff. Penn State, LSU, Florida State and Mi- ami are among his biggest scholarship offers. CHRISTOPHER BURGESS Edge • 6-4, 230 Class Of 2025 Chicago Simeon On3 Rankings: Four-star recruit, No. 2 player in Illinois, and No. 10 edge and No. 114 overall player nationally. The Skinny: Notre Dame was tar- geting an elite defensive lineman out of Chicago in the 2024 class, but part of the issue for the Irish's pursuit of five- star Justin Scott from St. Ignatius was that he didn't visit campus very often. Actions speak louder than words, and Scott visiting Notre Dame only three times in the span of 18 months or so de- spite his close proximity to South Bend showed he wasn't overly serious about the Irish. Burgess is another big-time defensive lineman from Chicagoland, and he's al- ready been to campus five times. The Ohio State game will make it six times. Eight Visitors To Know For The Notre Dame-Ohio State Game Winston-Salem (N.C.) Mount Tabor 2025 four-star JaDon Blair — the No. 2 safety and No. 26 overall prospect in the country — has offers from Notre Dame, Penn State, LSU, Florida State and Miami. PHOTO BY RYAN SNYDER/BLUEWHITEILLUSTRATED.COM MORE NOTABLE TARGETS Be sure to check out BlueandGold.com in the days leading up to the Ohio State-Notre Dame game, because more visitors are sure to be added to the list for the top-10 matchup. Below is a list of other notable Irish targets who are already confirmed to be visiting for the OSU game as of Sept. 14. All play- ers listed below are in the 2025 class: Bear Bachmeier, ★★★★, QB, 6-2, 205, Murrieta, Calif. (Murrieta Valley) Rowan Byrne, ★★★★, OL, 6-6, 290, New Rochelle, N.Y. (Iona Preparatory School) Christian Jones,★★★, LB, 6-3, 215, Omaha, Neb. (Westside) Marco Jones,★★★, LB, 6-4, 215, Danville, Calif. (San Ramon Valley) Cooper Perry, ★★★, WR, 6-2, 180, Scottsdale, Ariz. (Notre Dame Preparatory) Joseph Reiff, —, DT, 6-5, 230, Elmhurst, Ill. (York Community) Michael Roeske, ★★★, OL, 6-7, 280, Wautoma, Wis. (Wautoma) Anthony Sacca, ★★★, LB, 6-2½, 215, Philadelphia (St. Joseph's)