Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MARCH 2017 71 FOOTBALL RECRUITING dral's Matthew Bauer, Rivals' No. 5 inside linebacker and No. 103 overall player in the country, and Farmington Hills (Mich.) Harrison's Ovie Oghoufo, the No. 19 outside linebacker nation- ally, also factored into the equation. Notre Dame will look to add one more linebacker to the class. Toledo (Ohio) St. John's Dallas Gant, the No. 15 outside linebacker and No. 242 over- all prospect in the country, is a top tar- get for the Irish, and Notre Dame made sure to get out and see him in January. It also sent Elko out to see Las Vegas Bishop Gorman linebacker Palaie Gao- teote, Rivals' top outside linebacker and No. 24 overall player in the land. R o c k w a l l ( Te x a s ) H i g h 6 - 2 , 216-pound linebacker Alston Orji re- cently received an offer from Notre Dame. Rivals ranks Orji as the No. 6 outside linebacker and No. 81 overall prospect nationally. SAFETY/ROVER 2017 S/R On Roster: 9 Projected Take: 2-3 It wasn't that long ago that Notre Dame's safety depth chart was in ma- jor trouble. The Irish's recruiting strug- gles at safety forced a pair of freshmen — Devin Studstill and Jalen Elliott — onto the field in 2016. Studstill and Elliott were part of a talented four-man safety class that also included four-star D.J. Morgan and Spencer Perry, who projects as a rover. Notre Dame followed that up with a pair of safeties — Isaiah Robertson and Jordan Genmark Heath — and a talented rover prospect in Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah in the 2017 class. Back-to-back strong classes at safety means Notre Dame's defensive staff can finally start recruiting for top-end talent. Notre Dame's top two targets on the back end of the defense are clear. Marietta (Ga.) Lassiter defensive back Derrik Allen — the No. 3 safety and No. 36 overall player nationally according to Rivals — is a major tar- get for Notre Dame. Allen has visited Notre Dame twice on his own dime, and the new Irish staff will continue to make him a priority. Jacksonville (Fla.) Trinity Christian five-star Tyreke Johnson mentions Notre Dame as a school that is high on his list, and a visit last June showed off that interest. Johnson is ranked as the nation's best safety and No. 8 overall player. Notre Dame will need to work hard to stay on his list, and putting a bet- ter defensive product on the field this fall will certainly help its chances with Johnson and Allen. Notre Dame recently offered Jersey City (N.J.) St. Peter's Prep linebacker Shayne Simon, a teammate of the Ademilola twins whom the Irish staff likes at the rover position. Notre Dame put itself in prime position to land Si- mon with its Jan. 19 offer. He is ranked as the No. 18 outside linebacker in the land. CORNERBACK 2017 CB On Roster: 7 Projected Take: 2 For years, recruiting the cornerback position had been a trouble spot for Notre Dame. That began to change with the 2013 class, when the Irish landed Cole Luke, the nation's No. 11 cornerback, and followed that up by landing Nick Watkins, the No. 15 cornerback in the country, in 2014. A three-man class that contained Ri- vals100 prospect Shaun Crawford (Ri- vals' No. 7 corner in the country) to go along with Nick Coleman and Ashton White improved the depth. In 2016, Notre Dame landed a trio of four-star corners in Donte Vaughn (the No. 20 safety in the land), Troy Pride Jr. (No. 23 cornerback in the country) and Julian Love (No. 21 cornerback nation- ally). All three made an impact as true freshmen last fall. Notre Dame failed to land a corner in the 2017 class, a setback for the staff. The success of the previous two classes still has Notre Dame in a good spot from a numbers standpoint, but land- ing at least two quality corners in this class is a must. Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy four- star cornerback Houston Griffith (Ri- vals' No. 2 athlete and No. 37 overall player in the land) has been on Notre Dame's radar since his freshman sea- son, when he was a standout at Chi- cago Mt. Carmel. Griffith, the son of former Denver Broncos fullback How- ard Griffith, has been to Notre Dame at least a half dozen times, and the Irish should be a player until the end. Notre Dame is also trying to make a run at Griffith's IMG Academy team- mate, Brendan Radley-Hiles. The 5-10, 175-pound native of California and Rivals' No. 6 cornerback and No. 40 overall player in the nation continues to express interest in Notre Dame. However, when interviewed on the field following the U.S. Army All- American Bowl in January, Radley- Hiles failed to mention the Irish on multiple occasions when asked to list his top teams. The Irish have also made 6-2, 182-pound cornerback Tre Douglas a top priority. Douglas attends Mc- Donough (Ga.) Eagle's Landing Chris- tian, the alma mater of former Notre Dame defensive end Isaac Rochell and safety Avery Sebastian. Detroit Cass Tech corner Kalon Gervin is another name to watch. He is listed as the nation's No. 11 corner- back and No. 90 overall prospect by Rivals. ✦ Irish commitment Matthew Bauer of Erie (Pa.) Cathedral is listed as Rivals' No. 5 inside linebacker and No. 103 overall recruit in the class of 2018. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM