Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM APRIL/MAY 2026 43 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ROUNDUP Isaiah Phelps, HHH, 5-10½, 190, Oxnard, Calif. (Pacifica) Toa Satele, HHHH, 6-3, 200, Mililani, Hawai'i (Mililani) Kenneth Simon II, HHH, 6-2, 190, Brentwood, Tenn. (Brentwood Academy) Tate Wallace, HHHH, 6-2, 220, Iowa City, Iowa (Regina)^ Cornerback Ace Alston, HHHH, 5-11, 175, Cincinnati (An- derson) Jaden Carey, HHHH, 6-0, 175, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (St. Thomas Aquinas) Joshua Dobson, HHHHH, 6-1, 185, Cornelius, N.C. (Williams Amos Hough) Censere Gaylord, HHH, 6-0, 180, Bradenton, Fla. (IMG Academy) Tavares Harrington, HHHH, 6-3, 180, Chicago (Mount Carmel) Xavier Hasan, HHHH, 5-11, 190, Raleigh, N.C. (Cardinal Gibbons) Jailen Hill, HHH, 6-3, 160, Bellflower, Calif. (St. John Bosco) Larry Moon, HHH, 5-11, 190, Bradenton, Fla. (IMG Academy) Brandon Sherrard, HHHH, 6-1, 180, Pearland, Texas (Shadow Creek) Monsanna Torbert, HHHH, 5-10½, 160, Cincin- nati (Princeton) Kei'Shjuan Telfair, HHHH, 5-11½, 160, Euclid, Ohio (Euclid) Duvay Williams, HHHH, 5-11, 150, Inglewood, Calif. (Inglewood) Safety Alan Blackshere, HHH, 6-4, 198, Miami (Carol City) Zayden Gamble, HHH, 5-11, 160, Fort Lauder- dale, Fla. (St. Thomas Aquinas) John Gay III, —, 6-2, 180, Hollywood, Fla. (Chami- nade-Madonna Prep) Andre Hyppolite, HHH, 6-0, 180, Miami, Fla. (North Miami Beach)^ Greedy James, HHH, 6-1, 170, Manvel, Texas (Manvel)^ Jaylyn Jones, HHHH, 6-0, 175, Hollywood, Fla. (McArthur) — Miami commit Kenaz Sullivan, HHHH, 6-0, 185, Springfield, Va. (The St. James 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) Athletes None. Long Snapper Sean Kraft, HHH, 6-4, 215, Swannanoa, N.C. (Asheville Christian Academy) Star ratings are from Rivals as of April 6 ^ Offered by Notre Dame between Feb. 17 and April 6 NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL GAMES on VHS or DVD for sale, from 1928 to present. Contact Peter Rahas at 7700 Golden Filly St., Las Vegas, NV 89131 or call 1-702-498-2351 M A R K E T P L A C E ADS: CALL 502-552-4390 PRAYERS: CALL 800-421-7751 PRAYER TO THE BLESSED MOTHER - Oh, most beau- tiful flower of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine, splendor of Heaven. Blessed Mother of the Son of God; Im- maculate Virgin, assist me in this necessity. Oh, Star of the Sea, help me and show me you are my Mother. Oh, Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth, I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to succour me in my necessity. There are none that can withstand your power. Oh, Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. (3 times). Holy Mary, I place this prayer in your hands. (3 times). Sweet Mother I place this cause in your hands. (3 times). Thank you for your mercy to me and mine. Amen. This prayer must be said for 3 days and after 3 days your request will be granted and the prayer must be published. Thank you. D.H. POWERFUL PRAYER - to the Holy Spirit. You who solve all problems, who lights all roads so that I can obtain my goals. You who give me the Divine gift to forgive and to forget all evil against me and that in all instances of my life, you are with me. I want in this short prayer to thank You for all things and to confirm that I never want to be separated from You, even and in spite of all ma- terial illusions. I wish to be with You in eternal glory. Thank You for your mercy toward me and mine. The person must say this prayer for three consecutive days. After three days the favor requested will be granted even though it may appear difficult. This prayer must be published immediately after the favor is granted without mentioning the favor. A.E.C. PRAYER TO THE BLESSED MOTHER - Oh, most beau- tiful flower of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine, splendor of Heaven. Blessed Mother of the Son of God; Im- maculate Virgin, assist me in this necessity. Oh, Star of the Sea, help me and show me you are my Mother. Oh, Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth, I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to succour me in my necessity. There are none that can withstand your power. Oh, Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. (3 times). Holy Mary, I place this prayer in your hands. (3 times). Sweet Mother I place this cause in your hands. (3 times). Thank you for your mercy to me and mine. Amen. This prayer must be said for 3 days and after 3 days your request will be granted and the prayer must be published. Thank you. A.E.C. PERSONALS RECRUITING NOTES • Notre Dame's chances of landing a five-star offensive lineman for the seventh straight recruiting cycle decreased April 4. Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas junior Mark Matthews — Rivals' No. 1 offensive tackle and No. 3 overall player in the 2027 class — excluded the Irish from his top four schools. The 6-foot-5, 301-pounder plans to consider only Miami, Texas A&M, LSU and Georgia for the remainder of his recruitment. Matthews, who is also the No. 1 prospect in Florida, made the decision after visiting campus for the Texas A&M game Sept. 13. He told Blue & Gold Illustrated in December that he hoped to return to South Bend before announcing a commitment, but that no longer appears likely. • According to Rivals, only seven other offensive linemen are currently tracking toward five-star status in the 2027 cycle. The Irish have offered six of them: Cooper Hackett (Fort Gibson, Okla.), Maxwell Hiller (Coatesville, Pa.), Albert Simien (Lake Charles, La.), Kennedy Brown (Humble, Texas), Oluwasemilore Olu- bobola (Jersey City, N.J.) and Kellen Wymer (Liberty Center, Ohio). The only five-star offensive lineman without a Notre Dame offer is Bixby (Okla.) High's Kaden Penny, Ri- vals' No. 4 offensive tackle and No. 20 overall player in the class. He committed to Oklahoma in September. Notre Dame is no longer in contention for Hackett (committed to Oklahoma), Hiller (excluded the Irish from his top four) or Wymer (committed to Ohio State). According to Rivals, they rank Nos. 6, 8 and 31 overall in the class, respectively. Hiller and Wymer are the Nos. 1 and 3 interior offensive linemen, while Hackett is the No. 2 offensive tackle. Meanwhile, the Irish appear to be on the outside looking in for Brown, the No. 3 offensive tackle and No. 15 overall player in the class. Despite receiving an offer in March 2025 and being from Indianapolis, he has yet to visit Notre Dame. That leaves Irish offensive line coach Joe Rudolph with Simien and Olubobola — both of whom are trending toward Texas A&M — as the primary remaining five-star options to extend the streak. The Irish remain firmly in the mix for Simien, Rivals' No. 2 player in Louisiana, and No. 2 interior offensive lineman and No. 10 overall prospect nationally. He visited campus for the second time in March, and sources familiar with his recruitment indicate Notre Dame is strongly under consideration. The Irish are earlier in their pursuit of Olubobola, the country's No. 5 offensive tackle No. 28 overall player. After recently receiving an offer, the 6-foot-7, 290-pounder told Blue & Gold Illustrated he is considering a visit. Do not count out Rudolph from identifying another under-the-radar offensive lineman who could rise to five-star status later in the cycle. He did so with Grayson McKeogh in the previous class, and his track record suggests it could happen again. — Kyle Kelly