Blue and Gold Illustrated

FOOTBALL RECRUITING ROUNDUP BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 1, 2025 45 Jake Godfree, HHH, 5-11, 220, Lawrenceville, Ga. (North Gwinnett) Michael Griffin, HHH, 5-10, 200, Charlotte, N.C. (Chambers) Kaden Henderson, HHHH, 6-2, 200, Tampa, Fla. (Jesuit) Roman Igwebuike, HHHH, 6-3, 220, Chicago (Mount Carmel) Amarri Irvin, HHH, 5-11, 215, Bradenton, Fla. (IMG Academy) Deion Jackson, HHH, 6-2, 200, Port St. Lucie, Fla. (Legacy) Isaiah Leilua, HHH, 6-0, 220, Anaheim, Calif. (Servite) Liufau Loumoli, HHH, 6-1, 201, Bradenton, Fla. (IMG Academy) Ellis McGaskin, HHH, 5-11½, 210, Mobile, Ala. (Williamson) Isaiah Phelps, HHHH, 5-10½, 190, Oxnard, Calif. (Pacifica) Omarii Sanders, HHHH, 6-3½, 210, Nashville, Tenn. (Franklin Road Academy) Toa Satele, HHHH, 6-3, 200, Mililani, Hawai'i (Mililani) Cooper Witten, HHHH, 6-1, 210, Argyle, Texas (Liberty Christian) Cornerback Ace Alston, HHHH, 5-11, 175, Cincinnati (Anderson) Jaden Carey, HHH, 6-0, 165, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (St. Thomas Aquinas) Joshua Dobson, HHHHH, 6-1, 170, Fort Mill, S.C. (Catawba Ridge) Censere Gaylord, HHHH, 6-0, 180, Bradenton, Fla. (IMG Academy) Xavier Hasan, HHHH, 6-0, 180, Raleigh, N.C. (Cardinal Gibbons) Jailen Hill, HHHH, 6-3, 160, Bellflower, Calif. (St. John Bosco) John Meredith, HHHHH, 6-2, 175, Arlington, Texas (Trinity) Josiah Molden, HHHH, 6-0, 175, West Linn, Ore. (West Linn) Larry Moon, HHHH, 6-0, 185, Bradenton, Fla. (IMG Academy) Jerry Outhouse, HHHH, 6-0½, 175, Fort Worth, Texas (North Crowley) Hayden Stepp, HHHH, 6-3, 175, Las Vegas (Bishop Gorman) Aaryn Washington, HHHH, 6-0, 155, Santa Ana, Calif. (Mater Dei) Duvay Williams, HHHH, 6-2, 160, Gardena, Calif. (Junipero Serra) Safety Myles Baker, HHH, 6-1, 190, Chatsworth, Calif. (Sierra Canyon) Marquis Bryant, HHH, 5-11, 185, Rolesville, N.C. (Rolesville) Kamarui Dorsey, HHHH, 6-2, 190, Hampton, Ga. (Hampton) Honor Fa'alave-Johnson, HHHH, 6-0, 180, San Diego (Cathedral Catholic) Jaylyn Jones, HHH, 6-0, 175, Hollywood, Fla. (McArthur) — Miami commit^ Zayden Gamble, HHH, 5-11, 160, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (St. Thomas Aquinas) Tavares Harrington, HHHH, 6-3, 180, Chicago (Mount Carmel) Corey Hadley, HHHH, 6-1, 180, Tyrone, Ga. (Sandy Creek) Garyon Hobbs, HHH, 5-11½, 200, Louisville, Ky. (Atherton) Danny Lang, HHH, 6-0½, 160, Santa Ana, Calif. (Mater Dei) Kenneth Simon II, HHH, 6-2, 190, Brentwood, Tenn. (Brentwood Academy) Khalil Terry, HHHH, 5-11, 180, Tustin, Calif. (Tustin) Jaden Walk-Green, HHH, 5-11, 185, Corona, Calif. (Centennial) Gavin Williams, HHHH, 6-1, 170, La Verne, Calif. (Damien) Isala Wily-Ava, HHH, 6-2, 193, Bellflower, Calif. (St. John Bosco) Athletes Braden Gordon, HHHH, 6-3, 190, Montgomery, Ala. (The Montgomery Academy) Myson Johnson-Cook, HHHH, 6-1½, 220, East St. Louis, Ill. (East St. Louis) Long Snapper Sean Kraft, —, 6-4, 215, Swannanoa, N.C. (Asheville Christian Academy) Star ratings are from Rivals as of Oct. 16 ^ Offered by Notre Dame between Oct. 10-16 Commitments in bold italics RECRUITING NOTES • Notre Dame positioned itself to make a move with two recruits who are verbally com- mitted elsewhere, with plans to host them on unofficial visits for the Southern Cal game Oct. 18. One of those prospects is someone the Irish have grown quite familiar with. Five-star wide receiver and Ohio State pledge Jamier Brown told Blue & Gold Illus- trated he intended to visit for the marquee matchup. The 5-foot-11, 185-pounder from Huber Heights (Ohio) Wayne was the first re- cruit in the 2027 class to announce a scholar- ship offer from the Irish, dating back to Febru- ary 2024. That was not a coincidence. Brown — whom Rivals ranks as the No. 1 player in Ohio, and the No. 1 wide receiver and No. 9 overall player nationally in the 2027 class — attends the same high school that Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman and defensive backs coach Mike Mickens gradu- ated from. His connection with the Irish staff was the primary reason he wanted to go to South Bend. "I have a good relationship with Coach Free- man and the coaches," Brown told Blue & Gold Illustrated. "It's always nice to be able to catch up with them." Brown's school also produced Irish starting right tackle Aamil Wagner, who signed with Notre Dame out of high school over Ohio State and Kentucky. The Irish will still have work to do if they want to flip Brown, but they made prog- ress by getting him to campus for the second time since he pledged to the Buckeyes on Nov. 23, 2024. His other visit was for a spring practice in April. Since then, Brown has maintained that he would stick with Ohio State. However, the Irish have given him something to consider. "I haven't really considered nowhere else, but I definitely will consider Notre Dame be- cause it's a great place," he said on that same day in the spring. "They're big on brotherhood. They're big on everyone sticking together. Notre Dame is actually a great place for people that don't know that." • The other recruit committed elsewhere, who told Blue & Gold Illustrated he would be visiting campus, was four-star linebacker Taven Epps from Tustin (Calif.) High. The 6-foot-4, 235-pound Epps pledged to Texas April 6. However, about three weeks earlier, he added a Notre Dame offer during its St. Pat- rick's Day-themed Pot of Gold Day recruiting event. It caught his attention. "Notre Dame is a big-time program and get- ting this offer means a lot," Epps told Rivals vice president of recruiting Steve Wiltfong in March. "This is my head coach's favorite college team, so we hear about them all the time." Epps is listed as the No. 13 edge and No. 103 overall player nationally in the Rivals Industry Rankings. Despite his early declaration to the Long- horns, Epps has given other schools a look. Earlier in the season, he visited Southern Cal, Georgia and North Carolina. In total, Epps holds scholarship offers from 27 Power Four programs, in- cluding ones from Alabama, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Michigan, Miami and Tennessee. The Irish have competition if they would like to add him to the fold. — Kyle Kelly Follow @ByKyleKelly on X for daily recruiting updates on BlueandGold.com! Ohio State five-star wide receiver commit Jamier Brown was the first recruit to announce an offer from Notre Dame in the 2027 class. He attends the same high school that Irish head coach Marcus Freeman once did. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER

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