Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDERCLASSMEN WILL BE REPRESENTED AT INVASION While the immediate focus of the Irish Invasion in June will be on the class of 2016, there will also be plenty of talented underclassmen on hand. Notre Dame will host two 2017 pros- pects that it has already extended offers to in Cypress (Texas) Cy-Fair four-star tight end Brock Wright and Palm Beach Gardens (Fla.) High de- fensive end Vandarius Cowan, and welcome a number of other potential targets to campus. Among them is Cincinnati Moeller tight end Matthew Dotson — the nephew of Irish legend Steve Niehaus, who was a two-time All-American de- fensive lineman at Notre Dame. "I'm hoping to develop my game a little more and just show them what I can do," Dotson said. "I am very interested in Notre Dame because of my grandfather." Dotson, who holds early offers from Cincinnati, Illinois and Tennes- see, checks in at 6-5 and 220 pounds. He's a candidate to pick up an offer at the camp, which is also the case for a pair of teammates from Cincinnati St. Xavier. Offensive guard Matt Bock- horst and quarterback Sean Clifford both visited for a spring practice in April and had a chance to meet with the Irish coaching staff. "It would mean a lot to land an offer — it's Notre Dame. It's Catholic. It's a high academic institution," Bockhorst said. "Once you get the offer from there, then you're really able to evalu- ate your options. That's a little be fur- ther in the process, but hopefully that presents itself in the near future." The 6-4, 295-pound Bockhorst holds offers from Boston College, Illinois, Vanderbilt and Louisville. The 6-3, 205-pound Clifford has been offered by Cincinnati, Louisville, Pittsburgh and West Virginia. He, too, would like an offer. "I'm hoping to come away with one," he said. "Of course, that's what everyone is trying to do, but that's the goal." ✦ Cincinnati St. Xavier class of 2017 quarterback Sean Clifford is hoping to land an offer from Notre Dame at the Irish Invasion event. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM