Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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74 MARCH 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED FOOTBALL RECRUITING ROUNDUP Safety JaDon Blair, HHHH, 6-4, 185, Winston-Salem, N.C. (Mount Tabor) Jayce Cora, HHH, 6-4, 180, Naples, Fla. (Lely) Ethan Long, HHH, 6-2, 185, Milford, Conn. (Brunswick School) Ivan Taylor, HHHH, 5-11, 163, Winter Garden, Fla. (West Orange) Kainoa Winston, HHHH, 5-10½, 185, Washington, D.C. (Gonzaga) Athlete Marquise Davis, HHHH, 5-11, 200, Cleveland (Cleveland Heights) Dierre Hill, HHHH, 5-10½, 180, Belleville, Ill. (Althoff Catholic) Lance Jackson, HHHH, 6-5, 240, Texarkana, Texas (Pleasant Grove) CJ Nickson, HHHH, 6-5, 216, Weatherford, Okla. (Weatherford) Michael Terry, HHHH, 6-3, 210, San Antonio (Alamo Heights)^ Jordan Young, HHHH, 6-0, 170, Monroe, N.C. (Monroe) Star ratings are from On3 as of Feb. 12 Commitments in bold italics ^ Received an offer from Notre Dame between Jan. 3 and Feb. 12 RECRUITING NOTES • On Feb. 4, Notre Dame lost a verbal commitment from Highland Home (Ala.) High edge rusher C.J. May. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound May is a four-star recruit and On3's No. 210 overall player, the No. 16 edge in the country and No. 12 recruit in Alabama. He initially pledged to Notre Dame on Sept. 23. However, May never seemed fully locked into the Irish because he made an unofficial visit to Auburn on Jan. 13. While May also visited Notre Dame for its Jan. 20 junior day, he publicly ac- knowledged that coaches from Miami and Syracuse visited his school during the NCAA January recruiting contact period. Louisville, Texas A&M, Michigan, Auburn and Ole Miss had been pushing harder behind the scenes. May reports 17 other Power Four offers, including Clemson, Georgia, Miami and Penn State. • The Irish offered a three-star linebacker Alex Tatsch from Latrobe (Pa.) Greater Latrobe on Feb. 1. Although On3's No. 33 linebacker nationally and No. 11 recruit in Pennsylvania called Notre Dame his "dream school," he pledged to Penn State three days later. • Tatsch's commitment remained significant in Notre Dame's 2025 line- backer recruiting efforts. His pledge gave the Nittany Lions three linebackers in their class, which caused three-star Anthony Sacca — the son of former PSU quarterback Tony Sacca — to omit them from his top five schools on Feb. 8. Irish defensive coordinator Al Golden played with the elder Sacca at Penn State from 1988-91. The younger Sacca, a Philadelphia St. Joseph's junior who is On3's No. 32 linebacker in America and No. 11 Pennsylvania recruit, is down to Notre Dame, Alabama, Ohio State, Duke and Wisconsin. Of those schools, Sacca has visited only Alabama, Notre Dame and Ohio State. • On Jan. 16, Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman had an excellent visit to Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei. As a result, one top-250 recruit has already scheduled his first trip to South Bend. Four-star cornerback Chuck McDonald will check out the Irish for the first time on March 23. Notre Dame offered McDonald, On3's No. 23 cornerback in America and No. 19 California recruit, during its Pot of Gold Day on March 17, 2023. Sixty- four recruits, including eight cornerbacks, reported new offers throughout the St. Patrick's Day-themed recruiting event a year ago. • During January and February, the Irish welcomed three new offerees to campus, including two wide receivers: Ironton (Ohio) High pass catcher Shaun Terry and Wayne (N.J.) DePaul Catholic wideout Elijah Burress visited Notre Dame for its Jan. 20 junior day. New Irish wide receivers coach Mike Brown offered Burress about a week before, while Terry reported his during his visit. The 5-10, 165-pound Terry is a three-star and On3's No. 78 wide receiver nationally and No. 19 prospect in Ohio. On3 rates the 6-1, 170-pound Burress as the No. 85 receiver nationally and the No. 15 overall prospect in New Jersey. Burress announced his commitment to the Irish on Feb. 10. He is the son of former NFL wide receiver Plaxico Burress. On Feb. 1, the Irish welcomed Frankfort (Ky.) Western Hills edge Javeon Campbell to campus. The 6-5, 260-pounder just began playing high school football in 2023 and does not yet hold a rating from On3. Campbell also has offers from Cincinnati, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan State, Purdue, Vander- bilt and West Virginia. Notre Dame offered Campbell on Jan. 25. — Kyle Kelly Follow @ByKyleKelly on X for daily recruiting updates on BlueandGold.com! 2025 Master List Changes Prospects Committed: OT Owen Strebig of Waukesha, Wis., LB Ko'o Kia of Honolulu, S Ethan Long of Greenwich, Conn., WR Elijah Burress of Wayne, N.J. Prospects Decommitted: DE C.J. May of Highland Home, Ala. Prospects Removed: DE Ari Watford of Norfolk, Va. (committed to Clem- son), DE Sharlandiin Strange of Cheltenham, Pa. (committed to Syracuse), DL Isaiah Campbell of Durham, N.C. (committed to Clemson), LB Zayden Walker of Ellaville, Ga. (no longer considering Notre Dame), LB Kelvion Riggins of Sanford, Fla. (committed to Texas A&M), LB Kendall Daniels of Norfolk, Va. (no longer considering Notre Dame). ON3 INDUSTRY 2025 TEAM RECRUITING RANKINGS As of Feb. 12 1. LSU 9 2. Ohio State 8 3. Georgia 5 4. Clemson 11 5. Notre Dame 15 6. Oregon 5 7. Florida State 4 8. Texas 5 9. Auburn 8 10. Oklahoma 10 Rk. School Commits Rk. School Commits Highland Home (Ala.) High four-star edge C.J. May backed off his six-month Notre Dame pledge on Feb. 4. PHOTO BY MIKE SINGER