Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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44 NOV. 14, 2016 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED FOOTBALL RECRUITING BY COREY BODDEN AND DAVID MCKINNEY W hile college football games are won on the field, winning off the field is a very important part of the process. Recruiting is the first step in build- ing a consistent winner. According to an article by Clay Travis of Outkick- TheCoverage.com, 19 of the past 20 national champions had at least two top-10 recruiting classes in the four years prior to their title, with the lone exception being Oklahoma in 2000. More recently, nine of the past 10 champions had three top-10 classes in the prior four years to the team's title run, with Auburn in 2010 the outlier. Even though top-of-the-line re- cruiting won't guarantee a champi- onship, it is a major factor. And for schools such as Notre Dame, because of its location, recruiting at a high level takes a little more effort. Indiana is not the consistent pro- ducer of major high school talent like California, Texas, Florida, Ohio and Georgia, to name a few. Most programs in those states can fill the majority of their needs within the state's borders. Notre Dame, though, has to keep a presence across the country and not just one region. This is why games such as the Shamrock Series are more than just neutral site contests for the Irish. The Shamrock Series outing against Army in San Antonio Nov. 12 will be Notre Dame's second game in Texas this season, which has offered it a unique opportunity to give tal- ented in-state prospects a chance to see the Irish play. "When we look at geographical areas, Texas is obviously very impor- tant to us," head coach Brian Kelly said. "Having that presence in Texas this year, with two games, gave us a lot of in-roads in the state." The state of Texas is a fertile re- cruiting ground for every college program and it's no different for Notre Dame, especially under Kelly. In Kelly's first six full recruiting classes (2011-16), the Irish have inked 10 players from the state, including three Rivals four-star prospects and seven Rivals three-star recruits. Before Kelly's arrival, the Irish pro- gram signed only five Lone Star State student-athletes in the nine classes from 2002-10. The 2010 class is part of the "before Kelly" group because he was involved with the class for less than two months. "Clearly when we set this up, there was an eye toward making a stron- ger commitment that we would go into Texas," Kelly said. "And I think we've benefited from that." When the games in Austin and San Antonio were put on the schedule, Kelly and his staff doubled the efforts they were putting toward the state. "We made this commitment to back into Texas stronger when we had these two games lined up," Kelly said. "There was a point of decision with, 'Look, we've got these two games lined up. Let's go sell that when we get into the state of Texas.'" The recent success in Texas won't be stopping with the 2017 class either. The Irish hold commitments from three of the top 100 players in Texas: three-star Cedar Hill quarterback Avery Davis, the No. 63 player in Texas; three- star Mansfield defensive back Paulson Adebo, the No. 58 player in Texas; and four-star Cypress Cy-Fair tight end Brock Wright, the No. 1 player at his position nationally and No. 6 in Texas. If all three sign with the Irish in February, 10 of the 13 players from the state Kelly has signed would have been ranked among Rivals' top 100 prospects. The Irish are also in on a couple of the state's best players in the 2018 class in Rivals four-star wide Joshua Moore of Yoakum and four-star tight end Mu- stapha Muhammad of Missouri City. Games such as the Shamrock Se- ries promote the Notre Dame pro- gram better and allow the staff the opportunity to have a much bigger presence in more areas around the country, with Texas recruiting being the benefactor this year. A similar situation will occur in 2018 when the Irish travel to Califor- nia twice to play Navy in San Diego and USC in Los Angeles. Can Notre Dame strike gold in California when 2018 rolls around? Time will tell, but the extra image of Notre Dame in the state certainly won't hurt. ✦ Shamrock Series Helps Irish Lasso Texas Talent NOTRE DAME'S TEXAS PIPELINE UNDER BRIAN KELLY Class Name City/High School 2017 Brock Wright Cypress/Cy-Fair No. 1 tight end in the nation and No. 6 player in Texas 2017 Paulson Adebo Mansfield/Mansfield No. 58 wide receiver in the country and No. 58 prospect in Texas 2017 Avery Davis Cedar Hill/Cedar Hill No. 16 dual-threat quarterback in the nation and No. 63 recruit in Texas 2015 Jaylen Guyton Allen/Allen No. 56 wide receiver in the country and No. 59 player in Texas 2014 Nick Watkins Dallas/Bishop Dunne No. 15 cornerback in the nation and No. 22 prospect in Texas 2014 Grant Blankenship The Colony/The Colony No. 29 strongside defensive end in the country and No. 59 recruit in Texas 2014 Kolin Hill Schertz/Clemens No. 21 inside linebacker in the nation and No. 36 player in Texas 2013 Torii Hunter Jr. Prosper/Prosper No. 41 wide receiver in the country and No. 42 prospect in Texas 2013 Corey Robinson San Antonio/San Antonio Christian No. 44 wide receiver in the nation and No. 45 recruit in Texas 2013 Durham Smythe Belton/Belton No. 15 tight end in the country and No. 50 player in Texas 2012 Nicky Baratti Spring/Klein Oak No. 29 athlete in the nation and No. 57 prospect in Texas 2011 Jalen Brown Irving/Irving Macarthur School Three-star prospect 2011 Cam McDaniel Coppell/Coppell Three-star prospect Notre Dame has put in extra energy to recruit the state of Texas under head coach Brian Kelly, and players such as senior wide receiver Torii Hunter Jr. have been benefactors of the effort. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA