Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING BY ANDREW IVINS O ne of the biggest gripes for Notre Dame recruitniks the past few re- cruiting cycles has been that the Irish haven't done a good job of getting pros- pects on campus early in the recruit- ing process. With schools like Michi- gan, Michigan State, Penn State, Iowa and others in the Midwest welcom- ing regional kids to campus for barbe- cues and basketball games in January and February, many felt the Irish were missing out. It didn't taken long for Notre Dame to address those con- cerns. The Irish hosted 10 of the nation's top juniors, including three commits, for a Junior Day Jan. 23. While the numbers might not compare to other programs' events that reach into the upper thir- ties, there is a reason why Notre Dame wanted to keep things small — it is planning to have a number of different one-day recruiting events before the start of the summer months. "I felt like I was shown a lot of at- tention," Roswell (Ga.) High four-star cornerback LeAnthony Williams said. "They just really wanted to see what my recruitment was all about, and it made me feel like a priority." Williams flew from Atlanta to Chicago with his father to see South Bend for the first time and was offered a scholarship by Notre Dame's Brian Kelly while on campus. He said it felt special to receive a bid in-person from the head coach, and that's exactly what the Irish were hop- ing for when they sent out invitations to the event. The 6-0, 175-pound Williams — who is ranked by Rivals as the No. 15 recruit in Georgia, and the No. 10 corner- back and No. 102 overall player in the class of 2017 — was one of just a few out-of-state juniors that the coaching staff wanted on campus, because they wanted to get more face-to-face time with their top targets. Early returns suggest that it was the right strategy. First Of Many Junior Days Is A Success Notre Dame offered Roswell (Ga.) High four- star cornerback LeAnthony Williams at the program's Junior Day Jan. 23. PHOTO BY ANDREW IVINS