Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING stead of Elk Grove, Calif. The Irish looked to be fading in terms of their chances of pulling him away from the West Coast, but the continued at- tention from the program, including having Irish head basketball coach Mike Brey visit with him in his home the day after an away game, has left a strong impression on the Armstead family. The five-star prospect wants to play both sports in college, and Notre Dame making him aware of the fact that he could be suiting up for the All-American Showcases ALL-AMERICAN BOWL Jan. 3, 2012, at Chase Field in Phoenix at 4 p.m. MST on CBS Sports Network 2012 SEMPER FIDELIS DB Demetrious Cox – offered DL Sheldon Day – committed WR Deontay Greenberry – committed OL Mark Harrell – committed DB Donaldven Manning – committed to Virginia Tech DB Will Redmond – committed to Mississippi St. ATH Armani Reeves – committed to Penn State DB Tee Shepard – committed OL Ronnie Stanley – offered WR Justin Ferguson – committed WR Jordan Westerkamp – committed to Nebraska ALL-AMERICA GAME Jan. 5, 2012, at Tropicana Field in 2012 UNDER ARMOUR St. Petersburg, Fla., at 8 p.m. EST on ESPN WR Nelson Agholor — offered DB Ronald Darby — committed OL Joshua Garnett — offered Athlete Davonte Neal — offered LB Ifeadi Odenigbo — offered OL Andrus Peat — offered DB Brian Poole — committed to Florida LB Noah Spence — offered LL-AMERICAN BOWL Jan. 7, 2012, at Alamodome in San Antonio A 2012 U.S. ARMY at Noon CST on NBC DB Ishmael Adams – offered DL Arik Armstead – offered ATH Stefon Diggs – offered DL Jarron Jones – committed QB Gunner Kiel – offered TE Taylor McNamara – committed to Arizona WR Jordan Payton – offered RB KeiVarae Russell – offered DB Elijah Shumate – offered DB Shaq Thompson – offered DB Yuri Wright – offered 46 JANUARY 2012 Irish basketball team in mid-January after enrolling early has become ap- pealing, but schools such as Cal and USC, where he was originally com- mitted, are still programs to watch. WEDNESDAY, NOV. 30 The Irish may be trying to work their way in on top talent around the nation, but the coaches haven't ne- glected the ones they already have in tow, either. Kelly spent time with wide receiver commit Justin Ferguson of Pembroke Pines, Fla., and there's no budging from the three-star's pledge. He's set to report to campus in June. THURSDAY, DEC. 1 Kelly hit the Carolinas to pay visits to three committed players — wide receiver Chris Brown of Charleston, S.C., and offensive tackle Mark Har- rell and outside linebacker Romeo Okwara of Charlotte, N.C. There was concern early on that Brown would take visits to other schools, but his visit to Notre Dame for the USC game on Oct. 22 solidified his choice after receiving his family's full support to leave the nest. Harrell and Okwara, who are both playing in the 75th Annual Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas on Dec. 17, have developed a friendship and both aren't looking at any other options. Harrell and Okwara weren't able to take their official visits to Notre Dame for the Football Awards Show because practice for the Shrine Bowl started that weekend, so they'll be taking the trip to South Bend on Jan. 20. Defen- sive end commit Jarron Jones of Roch- ester, N.Y., is tentatively scheduled to visit that weekend as well. TUESDAY, DEC. 6 Safety commit C.J. Prosise of Woodberry Forest, Va., was the next stop on the trail for Kelly, and it gave the player's mom her first opportu- nity to sit down with the head coach. He hasn't entertained any other in- terest and is looking forward to the opportunity to have a chance to com- pete early on special teams. THURSDAY, DEC. 8 Kelly went to Ohio and checked in on offensive tackle commit Tay- lor Decker of Vandalia and running back pledge William Mahone of Youngstown. Ramsey, N.J., cornerback Yuri Wright, the nation's best player at his position according to 247Sports, decided to officially visit Notre Dame after an in- home visit from head coach Brian Kelly and defen- sive backs coach Kerry Cooks on Dec. 12. PHOTO COURTESY 247SPORTS Ohio State's new head coach Urban Meyer reached out to Decker, but he says he's "99.9-percent committed" to the Irish and doesn't plan on going anywhere but Notre Dame. He's a rising prospect and plays a position of need, a key reason why he was one of the early-December stops. Mahone was hampered with an ankle injury for a good portion of his senior season and is looking for- ward to returning to the gridiron. He hasn't expressed any interest in other programs and is dead set on playing at Notre Dame. MONDAY, DEC. 12 Kelly broke away from meeting up with committed recruits and had a full day of five-star recruiting. First he took a trip to Ramsey, N.J., to meet with five-star cornerback Yuri Wright and four-star safety Elijah Shumate, who are both scheduled to take an official visit to Notre Dame on Dec. 16. Kelly had an in-home visit with Wright and did well enough during the meeting to solidify the visit plans and put the Irish in con- tention with Michigan and Rutgers. Kelly then flew to Harrisburg, Pa., to meet with five-star weakside defen- sive end Noah Spence. The Pennsylva- nia native had removed the program from consideration and didn't have any plans of getting to campus for a visit, but he decided to have the Irish head coach visit and tell the Spence family more about Notre Dame. No visit was scheduled during the meet- ing, but the Irish are at least an option now with programs like Florida, Penn State and Ohio State in the picture. ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED