Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING ROUNDUP Recruiting Notes • Running back Dami Ayoola of Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aqui- nas verbally committed to Illinois on Thanksgiving and took his official visit to the school over the Dec. 9 week- end. Despite having given his pledge to the Fighting Illini over offers from Auburn, Boston College, Iowa, Min- nesota, Rutgers, South Florida, Wis- consin and others, Ayoola is now in a holding pattern following the firing of Illinois head coach Ron Zook. He remains verbally committed, but he's still targeting an official visit to Notre Dame in January after having to post- pone trips for the USC game on Oct. 22 and the Boston College game on No. 19. He's rated by 247Sports as a three-star recruit, the nation's No. 43 running back and the No. 84 overall player in Florida. • Jeannette (Pa.) Senior High safety Demetrious the school fired head coach Dennis Erickson. The in-state Bears look to be the toughest competition out of the group, but he plans to hold off until January before making a final decision. He's tabbed by 247Sports as a four-star recruit, the No. 25 wide receiver in the land, the No. 29 player in Arizona and the No. 237 overall prospect nationally. • Tempe (Ariz.) Corona Del Sol Tempe (Ariz.) Corona Del Sol product Andrus Peat is rated as a five-star recruit, the top player in Arizona, the No. 5 offensive tackle nationally and the country's No. 10 overall prospect by 247Sports. PHOTO COURTESY 247SPORTS Cox received an offer from the Irish in November. Notre Dame was able to get in the mix quick enough to join his group of eight finalists that includes Ar- kansas, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Pitt, Penn State, West Virginia and Wisconsin. The 247Sports four-star prospect, No. 20 safety in the country and the No. 11 player in Pennsylvania visited South Bend this past summer and has yet to schedule a visit back out to campus. He has no timeline set for his decision. • Outside linebacker Ken Ekanem — who is listed by 247Sports as a four-star prospect, the No. 6 player in Virginia, the No. 14 weakside defensive end in the land and the No. 188 overall recruit nationally — has narrowed down his list of favorites to North Carolina, Notre Dame, Oregon, Pitt and Virginia Tech. His only official visit scheduled is to Notre Dame on Dec. 16, and he plans on using all five of the allotted trips before making a final decision. He attends Centreville High in Clifton, Va. • Wide receiver Jordan Payton of Thousand Oaks (Calif.) Oaks Christian has a top three of Cal, Michigan and Notre Dame. Arizona State was previously on the list, but he decided to remove the Sun Devils after Scout.com Rankings as of Dec. 12 Rk. School 1. Texas 2. Michigan 3. Alabama 4. Texas A&M 5. LSU 6. Miami 7. Clemson 8. Florida 9. Florida State 10. Auburn 11. Notre Dame Commits 25 23 22 23 21 28 20 16 16 16 15 www.BLUEANDGOLD.com offensive tackle Andrus Peat had turned his focus elsewhere, but Notre Dame's continued pursuit of his services landed Irish assistant Ed Warinner a visit with him that ulti- mately put the program back on the radar. "I'd say it helped," Peat shared. "I'm considering taking a visit again. … I got a better feel for Coach Warinner, who would be my position coach if I went there, and my parents and I got to ask any questions we had about the program." He wasn't able to make it to campus for the Foot- ball Awards Show on Dec. 9 like the coaches wanted, but the Irish are still in the running for one of his three remaining official visits along with Florida State, Texas and USC. Peat is listed by 247Sports as a five-star recruit, the top player in Arizona, the No. 5 offensive tackle nationally and the country's No. 10 overall prospect. • Safety Shaq Thompson — who is tabbed by 247Sports as a five-star player, the top athlete in the land, the No. 3 prospect in California and the country's No. 11 overall player — took an official visit to Cal for its big recruiting weekend that included a number of other Irish targets like cornerback Ishmael Adams, defensive end Arik Armstead, wide receiver Jordan Payton and wide receiver Bryce Treggs (Cal commit). Despite spending a weekend at the pro- gram he was previously committed to, Thompson continues to list Notre Dame as a legitimate con- tender with Cal, Oregon, USC and Washington. He attends Grant Union High in Sacramento, Calif. — Jason Sapp TEAM RECRUITING RANKINGS 247Sports Rankings as of Dec. 12 Rk. School 1. Texas 2. Alabama 3. Michigan 4. Florida State 5. Texas A&M 6. Oklahoma 7. LSU 8. Florida 9. Clemson 10. Miami 13. Notre Dame Commits 25 22 23 16 23 16 21 16 20 28 15 Rivals.com Rankings as of Dec. 12 Rk. School 1. Texas 2. Alabama 3. Michigan 4. Florida State 5. LSU 6. Texas A&M 7. Auburn 8. Florida 9. Oklahoma 10. Clemson 19. Notre Dame Commits 25 22 23 16 21 23 16 16 16 20 15 OFFICIAL VISIT LIST Sept. 3: South Florida OL Evan Goodman — committed to Arizona State Sept. 17: Michigan State DB Nicky Baratti — committed WR Chris Brown — committed DB Ronald Darby — committed RB William Mahone — committed Oct. 8: Air Force WR Nelson Agholor — offered DB C.J. Prosise — committed Oct. 22: USC DB Ishmael Adams — offered DL Arik Armstead — offered OL Zach Banner — offered WR Justin Ferguson — committed WR Deontay Greenberry — committed DB Donaldven Manning — committed to Virginia Tech RB Keith Marshall — committed to Georgia LB Ifeadi Odenigbo — offered WR Jordan Payton — offered DB Brian Poole — committed to Florida RB KeiVarae Russell — offered DB Tee Shepard — committed OL John Theus — committed to Georgia DB Shaq Thompson — offered WR Bryce Treggs — committed to Cal Oct. 29: Navy WR Latroy Pittman — committed to Florida Nov. 19: Boston College WR Amara Darboh — committed to Michigan TE Taylor McNamara — committed to Arizona Dec. 9: Football Awards Show LS Scott Daly — committed DL Sheldon Day — committed OL Taylor Decker — committed QB Gunner Kiel — offered OL Joshua Garnett — offered LB Schyler Miles — interested ATH Davonte Neal — offered OL Ronnie Stanley — offered DB John Turner — committed Dec. 16: Campus Visit LB Ken Ekanem — offered WR Jordan Westerkamp — committed to Nebraska DB Elijah Shumate — offered DB Yuri Wright — offered Jan. 20: Campus Visit OL Mark Harrell — committed DL Jarron Jones — committed LB Romeo Okwara — committed JANUARY 2012 49