Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING ROUNDUP 86 MARCH 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED Cornerback Khary Adams, HHHH, 6-0, 175, Towson, Md. (Loyola Blakefield) Caden Harris, HHHH, 6-0, 170, Brownsville, Tenn. (Haywood) Elbert Hill, HHHH, 5-10½, 170, Akron, Ohio (Archbishop Hoban) Ksani Jiles, HHH, 6-0, 170, Bradenton, Fla. (IMG Academy) Hakim Satterwhite, HHH, 6-1, 175, Washington, D.C. (St. John's) Chaston Smith, HHHH, 6-1, 145, Knoxville, Tenn. (McCallie School) Jordan Thomas, HHH, 6-0, 175, Oradell, N.J. (Bergen Catholic) Safety Blaine Bradford, HHHH, 6-1, 195, Baton Rouge, La. (Catholic) Simeon Caldwell, HHHH, 6-3, 185, Jacksonville, Fla. (The Bolles School) Jordan Deck, HHHH, 6-3, 180, Frisco, Texas (Lone Star) Xavier Lherisse, HHH, 5-11, 185, Melbourne, Fla. (Eau Gallie) Ayden Pouncey, HHHH, 6-1, 155, Winter Park, Fla. (Winter Park) Nick Reddish, HHH, 5-11, 180, Charlotte, N.C. (Independence) Jermaine Santana-Diaz, HHH, 6-1, 185, Missouri City, Texas (Ridge Point) Jett Washington, HHHH, 6-4, 185, Las Vegas (Bishop Gorman) DJ Williams, HHH, 6-1, 160, Tampa, Fla. (Carrollwood Day) Athlete Legend Bey, HHH, 5-9,170, Forney, Texas (North Forney)^ Joey O'Brien, HHHH, 6-4, 180, Wyndmoor, Pa. (La Salle College) Star ratings are from On3 as of Feb. 10 Commitments in bold italics ^ Received a Notre Dame offer between Jan. 8 and Feb. 10 RECRUITING NOTES • Before the offseason began, Notre Dame offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Mike Denbrock had only offered four 2026 class tight ends. He doubled the number after hitting the road during the January NCAA recruit- ing contact period. Denbrock reportedly visited the schools of Great Bend (Kansas) High's Ian Premer, Dunlap (Ill.) High's Mack Sutter, Waukee (Iowa) High's Evan Jacobson and Omaha (Neb.) Millard South's Isaac Jensen, and offered each prospect. They rank as On3's Nos. 4, 8, 11 and 29 tight ends in the class, respectively. Premer, Dunlap and Jacobson are all four-star prospects who also rank as the Nos. 68, 155 and 225 overall players in 2026, respectively, while Jensen, the No. 2 player in Nebraska, is currently a three-star. Premer and Jacobson are the No. 1 players in Kansas and Iowa, respectively, and Sutter is the No. 5 recruit in Illinois. Jacobson and Jensen are already interested in Notre Dame. They both told Blue & Gold Illustrated they hope to visit the campus this spring. • On Feb. 9, Richland (N.J.) St. Augustine Prep's Damari Simeon announced a top 10 of Notre Dame, Duke, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M and Wisconsin. In On3's rankings, the 6-foot-2, 275-pound Simeon is a four-star prospect, No. 1 player in New Jersey, and the No. 3 defensive lineman and No. 46 over- all player nationally in the 2026 class. Notre Dame defensive line coach Al Washington offered Simeon after he visited for the program's "Grill and Chill" last July. Then, Simeon returned to campus for the Stanford game Oct. 12. After his second visit, he told Blue & Gold Illustrated recruiting insider Mike Singer that the Irish were a "perfect fit." "They're up there on my board," Simeon said Oct. 22. "Academics are big for me and my family. I want to go to a place with great academics and foot- ball. Notre Dame fits that perfectly." So far, Simeon has only made nine unofficial college recruiting visits. Penn State has hosted him three times, the most of any school. Duke has hosted him twice, along with Notre Dame. He's also been to Syracuse and Wisconsin. During the January recruiting contact period, Simeon visited Wisconsin Jan. 16 and Duke Feb. 1. • After former Irish general manager Chad Bowden bolted from the pro- gram Jan. 24, four days after the national championship game, head coach Marcus Freeman zeroed in on Texas Tech general manager James Blanchard to replace him. Freeman brought Blanchard to campus the weekend of Feb. 1 for an ex- tended interview and to meet other Notre Dame football coaching staff and athletics department members. However, on Feb. 7, Texas Tech announced that Blanchard had decided to remain with the Red Raiders in Lubbock, Texas. Entering his fourth season as Texas Tech's general manager, Blanchard is considered one of the top young general managers in college football. — Kyle Kelly Follow @ByKyleKelly on X for daily recruiting updates on BlueandGold.com! 2026 Master List Changes Prospects Committed: OL Tyler Merrill of Mechanicsburg, Pa. Prospects Decommitted: None. Prospects Removed: WR Tristen Keys of Hattiesburg, Miss. (no longer con- sidering Notre Dame); LB Jamarion Phillips of Dallas (no longer considering Notre Dame); CB Samari Matthews of Huntersville, N.C. (no longer consid- ering Notre Dame); S Zech Fort of Bradenton, Fla. (no longer considering Notre Dame); and ATH Brandon Arrington of La Mesa, Calif. (no longer considering Notre Dame). ON3 INDUSTRY 2026 TEAM RECRUITING RANKINGS As of Feb. 10 1. Oregon 10 2. Southern Cal 8 3. Texas A&M 10 4. Auburn 6 5. Tennessee 7 6. Penn State 9 7. LSU 5 8. Texas 3 9. Ohio State 4 10. Georgia 5 11. Notre Dame 7 Rk. School Commits Rk. School Commits Four-star defensive lineman Damari Simeon of Richland (N.J.) St. Augustine Prep recently listed Notre Dame among his top 10 schools. PHOTO COURTESY ON3