Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1527190
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 12, 2024 45 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ROUNDUP Quarterback Deuce Knight, HHHH, 6-4½, 208, Lucedale, Miss. (George County) Running Back Daniel Anderson, HHH, 5-11, 190, Bryant, Ark. (Bryant) Justin Thurman, HHH, 6-0, 180, Tampa, Fla. (Jesuit) Wide Receiver Jerome Bettis Jr., HHH, 6-3, 185, Atlanta (Woodward Academy) Elijah Burress, HHH, 6-0½, 175, Wayne, N.J. (DePaul Catholic) Jalen Cooper, HHHH, 6-1, 160, Cibolo, Texas (Steele) — SMU commit^ Isaiah Mizell, HHH, 6-0, 160, Orlando, Fla. (Boone) — Arizona commit Antavious Richardson, HHHH, 6-2, 170, Greenville, Ga. (Greenville) — USF commit Tight End James Flanigan, HHHH, 6-5½, 245, Green Bay, Wis. (Notre Dame de la Baie Academy) Offensive Line Matty Augustine, HHH, 6-7, 265, Greenwich, Conn. (Brunswick School) Will Black, HHHHH, 6-7½, 283, Wallingford, Conn. (Choate Rosemary Hall) Owen Strebig, HHH, 6-7, 295, Waukesha, Wis. (Catholic Memorial) Defensive End Christopher Burgess Jr., HHHH, 6-4, 240, Chicago (Simeon) Dominik Hulak, HHHH, 6-4, 240, Elmhurst, Ill. (Immaculate Conception) Timothy Griffin, HHH, 6-5, 255, Covington, Ga. (Alcovy)^ Defensive Tackle Davion Dixon, HHH, 6-3, 305, Miami (Palmetto) Joseph Reiff, HHHH, 6-5, 250, Elmhurst, Ill. (York Community) Gordy Sulfsted, HHH, 6-5, 235, Cincinnati (St. Xavier) Linebacker Madden Faraimo, HHHH, 6-3, 225, San Juan Capistrano, Calif. (JSerra Catholic) Ko'o Kia, HHH, 6-3, 220, Honolulu (Punahou) Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng, HHHH, 6-0½, 200, Bradenton, Fla. (IMG Academy) Anthony Sacca, HHH, 6-2½, 225, Philadelphia (St. Joseph's) Cornerback Dallas Golden, HHHH, 6-0, 188, Tampa, Fla. (Berkeley Prep) Cree Thomas, HHH, 6-1, 170, Phoenix (Brophy College Preparatory) Mark Zackery, HHHH, 5-10½, 160, Indianapolis (Ben Davis) Safety JaDon Blair, HHHH, 6-4½, 195, Winston-Salem, N.C. (Mount Tabor) Ethan Long, HHH, 6-2, 185, Milford, Conn. (Brunswick School) Brandon Logan, HHH, 6-1, 190, Fort Wayne, Ind. (Snider) Athlete None Star ratings are from On3 as of Sept. 25; Commitments in bold italics ^ Received an offer from Notre Dame between Sept. 19-25 Class Of 2025 Scholarship Offer Master List RECRUITING NOTES • The Deuce Knight recruiting saga marches on. Since July, the four-star Notre Dame quarterback commit from Lucedale (Miss.) George County has unofficially visited Auburn four times, including three times this football season. The Tigers also expected Knight, On3's No. 6 quarterback and No. 32 overall player in the 2025 class, to use his one allotted Au- burn official visit for the Oklahoma game Sept. 28. Meanwhile, the Irish hoped the 6-foot-4½, 208-pound Knight would return to South Bend for the Louisville game on the same day. But from what Blue & Gold Illustrated understands, Knight is now scheduled to be back on campus for the Stanford game Oct. 12. Getting Knight back to South Bend would be a wel- come sign for Notre Dame. That would likely mean it held off Auburn from completing its flip from the longtime Fighting Irish pledge. Despite Knight's inter- est elsewhere, no other 2025 class quarterbacks have announced a scholar- ship offer from Notre Dame since he declared to the Irish on Sept. 18, 2023. Even if Knight remains verbally committed to coach Marcus Freeman's program in mid-October, the Irish will have to wait about eight more weeks to add him to the roster officially. Knight is expected to sign with his program choice during the early signing period, which occurs from Dec. 4-6. • On Sept. 20, Notre Dame defensive line coach Al Washington extended an interesting offer to a 2025 class edge rusher. On that day, Covington (Ga.) Alcovy senior Timothy Griffin reported receiving a scholar- ship tender from the Fighting Irish. Before Notre Dame offered, the 6-5, 255–pound Griffin's only offers were from Alabama A&M, Georgia State, Mas- sachusetts and Western Kentucky. Since the Irish offered, Cincinnati and Florida have followed suit. He visited the Bearcats Sept. 21 and the Gators Sept. 14. The Irish will host Griffin on campus as an official visitor for the Stanford game. On3 rates Griffin as a three-star recruit, the No. 110 player in Georgia and the No. 89 defensive line- man in the country. • In addition to Knight and Griffin, Notre Dame still expects Cibolo (Texas) Steele four-star wide receiver target Jalen Coo- per to officially visit Oct. 12. Wide receivers coach Mike Brown offered Cooper, an SMU commit, Aug. 22. The San Antonio- based recruit is On3's No. 22 prospect in Texas, and No. 16 wide receiver and No. 103 overall player nationally in 2025. Cooper has verified his promising potential by posting 23 catches for 452 yards and 3 touchdowns in 4 games this season. It has come against premier competition, too. Steele High is a Class 6A program, the highest classification in Texas. In the Freeman era, Notre Dame has successfully signed three pass catch- ers from the Lone Star State. In 2023, they landed Austin Westlake's Jaden Greathouse, Round Rock Stony Point's Braylon James and Frisco Reedy's KK Smith. Greathouse and Smith are sophomores at Notre Dame, while James transferred to TCU in the offseason. — Kyle Kelly ON3 INDUSTRY 2025 TEAM RECRUITING RANKINGS As of Sept. 25 1. Ohio State 26 2. Alabama 21 3. LSU 26 4. Georgia 21 5. Auburn 24 6. Texas 20 7. Oregon 16 8. Tennessee 23 9. Texas A&M 21 10. Southern Cal 20 11. Oklahoma 21 12. Notre Dame 22 Rk. School Commits Rk. School Commits Notre Dame four-star quarterback com- mit Deuce Knight from Lucedale (Miss.) George County has attended three of Auburn's home games this season. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER 2025 Master List Changes Prospects Committed: None. Prospects Decommitted: None. Prospects Removed: WR Jace Brown (committed to UCLA).