Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING ROUNDUP Recruiting Notes • Safety Demetrious Cox of Jeannette (Pa.) High received a late offer from Notre Dame in Novem- ber, but it hasn't hurt the program's chances of re- maining on his radar. After paring his list down to 10 programs in early Decem- ber, Cox has trimmed the group of schools even fur- ther following the early portion of the contact period. "I only have five or six schools left," he told COX 247Sports. "I have Michigan State, Wisconsin, Penn State, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Pitt. That's pretty much it now." Cox removed Arizona State, Arkansas, Kansas and West Virginia from his list. He hasn't revealed any favorites among the short list, and he still intends on using all five of his official visits. He has yet to schedule a trip back to Notre Dame after traveling to campus in the summer on an unofficial visit. Following an official visit to Michigan State on Dec. 16, he plans on making the rest of his trips after participating in the 2012 Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl in Phoenix on Jan. 3. Cox is rated by 247Sports as a four-star recruit, the No. 18 safety in the land and the No. 11 player in Pennsylvania. • Oxon Hill (Md.) Potomac cornerback Ronald Darby, who has been verbally committed to Notre Dame since the Blue-Gold Game weekend on April 16, took an official visit to South Bend for the Michigan State game on Sept. 17 and used two of his other official visits to tour Auburn and Maryland. The 247Sports four-star prospect, No. 6 cornerback nationally, No. 2 player in Maryland and No. 63 over- all recruit in the country has always planned on using his trips, but he has kept his visit plans close to the vest. Breaking away from the norm for his recruitment, the Maryland native has told BlueandGold.com that he'll use his fourth official visit on Clemson some- time in January. A potential destination for his last official visit is Notre Dame rival USC, but he has yet to schedule either of those visits. Notre Dame is recruiting Darby as if he isn't com- mitted in an effort to keep the speedster on board. • Notre Dame commitments wide receiver Deon- tay Greenberry and cornerback Tee Shepard took a visit together to USC following the state title game for Washington Union in Los Angeles on Dec. 16. While taking an official visit to another program is always a cause for concern, the cousins maintain that they remain solid commits to the Irish. The plans to take other official visits have been consis- tent since the earlier phases of their recruitments, and Notre Dame has survived stops at both Arizona State and USC now in terms of keeping their pledges. Shepard, who is ranked by 247Sports as a four- star prospect, the No. 4 cornerback in the land, the www.BLUEANDGOLD.com No. 6 player in California and the nation's No. 52 overall, is set to report to Notre Dame on Jan. 15 for his early enrollment. He reported to 247Sports that he was done taking official visits, but the latest on his situation is that the Trojans aren't giving up without a fight. Greenberry, who is rated by 247Sports as a four- star player, the nation's No. 4 wide receiver, the No. 5 player in California and the No. 48 overall player in the land, wants to join Shepard in college, but he'll take additional visits. The two most prob- able stops at this point are Miami and UCLA. His stock is on the rise and he could be listed as high as a five-star recruit on 247Sports following the All- American Game circuit. • Wide receiver Jordan Payton of Thousand Oaks (Calif.) Oaks Christian may have had a top three of Cal, Michigan and Notre Dame after taking official visits to the three programs, with Arizona State and UCLA rounding out his five favorite schools. However, the 247Sports four-star recruit, No. 25 wide receiver in the land, No. 28 player in Arizona and No. 237 overall prospect nationally told Blue- andGold.com that Notre Dame and Cal are his two finalists. He provided even more clarity on how his list breaks down. "Cal is No. 1," Payton added. "Cal has great coaches and I love the team." UCLA has been labeled as the dark horse after the addition of Jim Mora Jr. as its new head coach and the verbal commitment of his teammate and former Irish target, cornerback Ishmael Adams, but the Bears look to be in position to receive his pledge when he announces at the 2012 U.S. Army All-Amer- ican Bowl in San Antonio on Jan. 7. • Memphis (Tenn.) East cornerback Will Redmond was one of the prospects that received a visit from Notre Dame during the coaches' travels for the con- tact period, and the Mississippi State commit was even more intrigued to get to campus. "It went great," he reported to BlueandGold.com in early December of the visit with Irish assistant Tim Hinton. "I'm excited about going up there for a visit. I'm actually really excited to get there now. I still don't know the day, though." The Tennessee native took an official visit to Geor- gia on Dec. 16 and said that he was targeting a trip to Notre Dame around Jan. 20, but set a trip to Van- derbilt, where his teammate and former Irish target, running back Brian Kimbrow, is committed, that weekend instead. His other trips are scheduled for Mississippi State on Jan. 13 and Tennessee on Jan. 27, so the weekend options are becoming limited. The 247Sports three-star player, No. 34 athlete in the land and No. 6 player in Tennessee hasn't set an exact date for his decision, but will likely ride out the process until the very end with a trip set the weekend before National Signing Day. Notre Dame will need to receive a visit to remain a legitimate contender to switch his commitment. — Jason Sapp 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 — committed to UCLA 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 — committed 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 Oklahoma Dec. 9: Football Awards Show LS Scott Daly — committed DL Sheldon Day — committed OL Taylor Decker — committed QB Gunner Kiel — committed to LSU OL Joshua Garnett — offered LB Schyler Miles — interested ATH Davonte Neal — offered OL Ronnie Stanley — committed DB John Turner — committed Dec. 16: Campus Visit DB Elijah Shumate — offered WR Jordan Westerkamp — committed to Nebraska DB Yuri Wright — offered Jan. 14: Campus Visit WR Raph Andrades — interested Jan. 20: Campus Visit OL Mark Harrell — committed DL Jarron Jones — committed LB Romeo Okwara — committed Jan. 27: Campus Visit LB Ken Ekanem — offered FEBRUARY 2012 43