Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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12 APRIL/MAY 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Perry Gregg — Tennis T h e g ra d u a t e s t u d e n t from Berkeley, Calif., pushed his dual singles record to 14-2 this season for the No. 17 Irish the weekend of March 27-29, with straight- set victories over Alex Fin- kelstein of SMU and Matvey Greschner of Boston College. The 14 wins for Gregg led the team, helped the Irish to a five-match winning streak and kept alive one of the best seasons for the men's program in recent history. Sophie Novak — Track & Field The graduate student dis- tance ace from Lake Orion, Mich., kicked off her outdoor season in fine fashion by set- ting a Notre Dame record March 28 in the 1,500-meter race at the Raleigh Relays on the NC State campus. Novak finished third in the race with a time of 4:08.90, beating the previous program record by three-hundredths of a second. Thomas Ricciardelli — Lacrosse The senior goaltender from New Canaan, Conn., was named the ACC Co-Defen- sive Player of the Week for the first time of his career March 11, following a 9-8 road win at previously un- beaten Ohio State March 7. He posted a season-high 14 saves while holding the Buckeyes to a season-low 8 goals. Ricciardelli made his final save of the day with less than 10 seconds remaining in the game to preserve the one-goal victory. Ava Zachary — Softball The freshman infielder from Mishawaka, Ind., enjoyed the best game of her young career March 29, with a two-run home run that lifted the Irish to a 9-7 walk-off win at home over Cal in extra innings. She had a career-best 4 hits and 4 RBI in the game. Through 38 contests, Zachary led Notre Dame with a .402 batting average and 9 doubles and 20 RBI, and was tied for the team lead with 4 home runs. TOP TOP OF THE CLASS OF THE CLASS Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom ✦ GIMME FIVE The number of former Notre Dame running backs selected in the NFL Draft will increase by two this year. Both Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, who each left Notre Dame with NCAA eligibility remaining, are expected to be picked during the three-day draft that begins April 23. Love and Price might not have to wait long to hear their names called. Based on draft projections, Love should get selected in the first 10 picks, and Price may sneak into the first round, too. Price will almost certainly be drafted before the third round ends. Notre Dame is starting to produce NFL Draft running backs at a rate the program hasn't seen since the 1990s. During that decade, nine Irish backs — spanning from Anthony Johnson in 1990 to Autry Denson in 1999 — were drafted into the NFL. Then Notre Dame experienced a bit of a draft drought at the position. Julius Jones became the next Irish back drafted in 2004. Nine years later, Theo Riddick finally continued the tradition when he was selected in 2013. Riddick started a pattern of drafted running backs under head coach Brian Kelly. Every three years another back was selected: C.J. Prosise in 2016, Dexter Williams in 2019 and Kyren Williams in 2022. The pattern accelerated under current head coach Marcus Freeman. Audric Estimé became the next drafted back in 2024, and Love and Price will continue the trend two years later. What may separate Love and Price from the recent trend is how high they may be drafted. The Irish haven't had someone selected as high as the third round since Prosise in 2016, but it's been much longer since an Irish running back was selected in the first (Jerome Bettis in 1993) or second rounds (Jones in 2004). — Tyler James Charting The Irish IRISH LEAD COUNTRY IN RETURNING PRODUCTION When ESPN's Bill Connelly calculates SP+ projections in the preseason, his formula relies on four factors: returning production, recent history, recent recruiting and coaching change effects. That requires Connelly to come up with a calculation to measure returning production for each college football team. When Connelly released in March his first SP+ projections for the 2026 season, he also unveiled his returning production measurements. While Notre Dame was ranked No. 3 in his initial SP+ rankings behind No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Oregon, the Irish also were ranked No. 1 in returning production. Because transfers are so prevalent, Connelly's measurement for returning production also accounts for incoming transfers. On offense, he weighs the percentage of returning yards pertinent to individual skill positions and the percentage of returning snaps on the offensive line. On defense, Connelly weighs the percentage of returning snaps, tackles and tackles for loss. Connelly's calculations determined Notre Dame has 72 percent of its production returning from last season, which includes 77 percent on defense (second in the country) and 67 percent on offense (19th). That put Notre Dame slightly ahead of Maryland (71), and made them one of only two programs above 70 percent. Will all that returning production guarantee success for Notre Dame in 2026? Certainly not. Clemson was ranked No. 1 in returning production by Connelly last spring, and the Tigers won just seven games last year. But three of the top 10 teams in returning production last preseason (Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Oklahoma) reached the College Foot- ball Playoff and two others (Vanderbilt and Kennesaw State) won 10 regular-season games. — Tyler James NOTRE DAME'S LAST FIVE RUNNING BACKS DRAFTED Year Player Team (Round, Pick) 2024 Audric Estimé Broncos (5th, 147) 2022 Kyren Williams Rams (5th, 164) 2019 Dexter Williams Packers (6th, 194) 2016 C.J. Prosise Seahawks (3rd, 90) 2013 Theo Riddick Lions (6th, 199) SP+ RETURNING PRODUCTION FOR 2026 Rk. School Percentage 1. Notre Dame 72 2. Maryland 71 3. Nebraska 69 4. Virginia Tech 69 5. South Carolina 68 6. Texas 68 7. Minnesota 68 8. Georgia 68 9. UCLA 67 10. Florida 66 Jadarian Price will help extend Notre Dame's recent trend of run- ning backs selected at the NFL Draft in late April. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER