Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MARCH 2025 71 2025 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY MIKE SINGER T here are 30 cities in the United States with the name Greenville, and Anta- vious Richardson comes from the one in the state of Georgia with a population of 876. That's good for No. 22 on the list of most populated cities named Greenville. It's pretty safe to assume that Rich- ardson is the only Notre Dame football player — and likely only the program has ever offered — from the small town in the Peach State. "I'm probably the first," he agreed. Richardson ended up ranked as a four- star recruit according to three of the four major recruiting ranking websites, but he was late to the scene as a national recruit. At first, he thought he'd play his colle- giate football at Georgia State, commit- ting to the Panthers over Navy — those were the two schools he held scholarship offers from at the time. His recruitment picked up later in the spring, adding offers from South Flor- ida, Mississippi State, Georgia Southern and Memphis. He flipped to the Bulls after taking official visits to South Flor- ida and Mississippi State in June. At that point, he thought he'd be playing his collegiate ball in Tampa, Fla., for USF. Then North Carolina, Duke, Notre Dame, Central Florida, Louisville and Alabama — in that order —extended scholarship offers. Once again, the small-town kid had another big decision to make. It was ex- pected that he'd back off his USF pledge, but which major program would he choose? He visited Alabama and Notre Dame last fall and liked the Tar Heels a lot as well, but he sided with the Irish and didn't look back. Richardson enrolled at Notre Dame in January as well. "The school, coaches, atmosphere, players and people in general up there made it feel like home," Richardson told Blue & Gold Illustrated. "Those are the main reasons why I chose Notre Dame." Greenville (Ga.) High has around 200 students, and at a school with that pop- ulation in rural Georgia, it's common to just put your best athlete at quarter- back, which is exactly what the coach- ing staff there did with Richardson. He played defensive back as well. Richardson hasn't played wide re- ceiver yet, but the Irish are banking on him developing into a top-notch pass catcher. "I'm pretty fired up about it," Rich- ardson said. "[Notre Dame wide receiv- ers] coach [Mike] Brown meant a lot in my recruitment. He showed me players he coached who played a different posi- tion in high school and ended up playing receiver that he developed and sent to the league. "He was saying how he was in my shoes at one point and went through the same thing." ✦ Richardson — a four-star recruit and the No. 8 ath- lete in America per On3 — comes to Notre Dame with no experience at receiver, but he believes he can make an impact at the position. PHOTO COURTESY ON3 Antavious Richardson Is Excited To Play Wide Receiver In South Bend ANTAVIOUS RICHARDSON WIDE RECEIVER 6-0 ∙ 166 GREENVILLE H.S. GREENVILLE, GA. RANKINGS STARS NAT. POS. STATE Industry ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 283 7 39 ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ — 8 50 ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 217 14 30 ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ — 10 43 ✪ ✪ ✪ — 54 69 * Ranked as an athlete STATISTICS • Primarily played quarterback at the prep level, while lining up all over the field on defense. • In nine games as a senior, completed 53 of 90 passes for 993 yards with 6 touchdowns and 3 interceptions, while adding 88 carries for 1,075 yards and 7 scores. • Rushed for 801 yards averaging over 11 yards per carry and threw for over 400 yards, while post- ing 54 tackles as a junior. NOTABLE • Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Class A Division II All-State selection as a senior. • 2023 and 2024 all-region athlete of the year. • 2023 state champion in the 400-meter run. • Has been recorded running a 10.68 in the 100-meter dash. RECRUITMENT • Committed to the Fighting Irish on Oct. 1, 2024. • Was previously committed to Georgia State and South Florida. • Recruited by wide receivers coach Mike Brown. • Visited Notre Dame twice, including his official visit on Sept. 20, 2024. 2025 PROJECTION • Expected to redshirt. THEY SAID IT On3 director of scouting and rankings Charles Power: "He's an interesting prospect. We have the 'athlete' designation for him, and he is the quintessential athlete prospect. He played all over the field for his high school team, lining up at quar- terback and could project as a receiver and corner. There are so many pathways that we could see him take in college. "First off, he's super athletic and runs a 10.76 in the 100-meter race and a 21.49 in the 200. You see what he can do on film with the ball in his hands, and he does whatever he wants. He doesn't play the highest level of competition, but you can see the movement skills, and it's all pretty projectable for the next level, whether that's at receiver or corner. "Projecting Richardson at receiver — there's some ambiguity there. We haven't seen anything on him from a ball skills perspective. He'll need to make that transition and add to his technical skills with his lack of experience. I like his upside at cornerback as well. "He's an interesting prospect. He's a little bit of a wild card. I'm interested to see what he looks like and what the reports are once he gets acclimated to the Notre Dame program. But he certainly brings an infusion of athleticism and versatility. I'm looking forward to seeing how he develops and where he settles in from a positional standpoint."