Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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32 AUGUST 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED FOOTBALL RECRUITING BY MIKE SINGER D euce Knight had quite the busy June, which included spending an extended amount of time on Notre Dame's campus and participating in the Elite 11 Finals in Los Angeles and Rivals Five-Star Challenge in Jacksonville, Fla. While in South Bend, he worked out in Notre Dame's Irish Invasion camp, training closely with quar- terbacks coach Gino Guidugli. His work with Guidugli in June, as well as training with private quarterbacks coach David Mor- ris of QB Country, paid off at the prestigious Elite 11 Finals event that took place June 18-20. The Elite 11 was founded in 1999 and is considered the pre- mier quarterback event in the nation. Event alumni include 28 of the 32 current NFL starting quarterbacks and 16 of the past 17 quarterbacks who have hoisted the Heisman Trophy. Four five-star prospects par- ticipated in the event, as well as a handful of other highly rated passers, such as Knight. And Knight, who is ranked as the No. 6 quarterback and No. 54 overall recruit in America by On3, shined. Much of the action in the first day of the event saw the quarter- backs go through different drill stations and competitions, such as the "rail shot challenge." On3 director of scouting and rankings Charles Power was on site and had strong reviews of Knight's Day 1 performance. "The physical talent is readily appar- ent," Power said after the first day. "As expected, he stacked up really well in terms of his pure physical tools — size, arm strength, movement skills. "In our opinion, there was a clear top tier of quarterbacks after the first day, and Deuce was toward the top of the second tier. For him to get to that top tier, he'll need continued consistency. He wasn't quite as consistent as the guys at the top, but it was an encourag- ing first day for him." Power added that he was looking for- ward to seeing how Knight would per- form in his "pro day" the next night, and he was very impressed. Each of the 20 quarterbacks who par- ticipated in the event went through a scripted set of throws, like signal-call- ers do in a pro day or combine setting. Knight was "on target" with 16 of his 20 attempts, and On3 named him their Day 2 top overall performer. "There was a 'wow' factor to many of his throws," Power said following the second day. "The Notre Dame pledge was among the most accurate and on- target in the workout on Wednesday night, in addition to having pure arm talent that really popped. "Knight's arm strength was amplified in comparison to watching the quarter- backs before and after his session. The ball jumped out of his hand and was on the receivers in the blink of an eye. We were also impressed with the speed and depth of his drops. Knight was able to operate with better timing and tempo than most of his peers and was in sync from top to bottom." For Day 3, each of the quarterbacks participated in a game of seven-on- seven, and Knight was on target with 12 of his 16 passing attempts and threw 3 touchdowns. The Elite 11 staff named Ala- bama quarterback commit Keelon Russell its overall MVP of the event, but their criteria included junior film and "traits" in that de- cision, whereas On3 only took into account performance of the event when naming its own MVP. Power selected Knight as On3's top overall performer for the week. "Knight gets the nod in a very tight four-man race for the On3 MVP after turning in a consistent three days of performances with the most legitimate 'wow' mo- ments of any Elite 11 finalist," said Power after the event concluded. "He showcased his physical up- side and high-end arm talent on Day 1 and was the On3 MVP on Day 2 with the best pro day of the group. There were several eye- raising moments from his work- out on Day 2 that were among the top highlights from the week. "Knight backed that up with a good showing during Thursday's seven-on-seven portion. His arm talent was among the best on hand, and he was able to operate well within the structure of this camp setting. We were also impressed with Knight's movement skills over the course of the week. The speed and depth of his drops were among the best on hand." Knight, who was ranked as the No. 4 performer at the event by 247Sports, spoke to reporters at the camp and said that his pledge to the Fighting Irish is strong. "I feel like my commitment is great with Notre Dame," Knight said. "I was just up there for my official visit, and it was really fun. I got to hang out with a lot of the commits and coaches." ✦ Lucedale (Miss.) George County's Deuce Knight, the No. 6 quar- terback and No. 54 overall player nationally per On3, had a needle- moving performance at the Elite 11 Finals June 18-20 in Los Angeles. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER Irish QB Commit Deuce Knight Shines At Elite 11 Finals