Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MARCH 2017 73 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ROUNDUP Quarterback Phil Jurkovec, 6-5, 190, Gibsonia, Pa. (Pine Richland) Running Back Jaelen Gill, 6-0, 176, Westerville, Ohio (Westerville South) Keontay Ingram, 6-0, 190, Carthage, Texas (Carthage)* Lorenzo Lingard, 6-0, 180, Orange City, Fla. (University) T.J. Pledger, 5-9, 175, West Hills, Calif. (Chaminade) Markese Stepp, 6-0, 205, Indianapolis (Cathedral) Zamir White, 6-0, 205, Laurinburg, N.C. (Scotland County) Wide Receiver Manuel Allen, 6-1, 175, Corona, Calif. (Centennial) — USC commit Kevin Austin, 6-3, 185, Coconut Creek, Fla. (North Broward) Kamryn Babb, 6-1, 175, St. Louis (Christian Brothers College High) Jahan Dotson, 6-0, 160, Hightstown, N.J. (The Peddie School) Jalen Hall, 6-3, 182, Los Angeles (Augustus Hawkins) Brian Hightower, 6-3, 196, Bradenton, Fla. (IMG Academy) Bryson Jackson, 6-1, 170, Houston (St. Pius X) Micah Jones, 6-5, 196, Gurnee, Ill. (Warren Township) Will Mallory, 6-5, 210, Jacksonville, Fla. (Providence) Joshua Moore, 6-3, 170, Bradenton, Fla. (IMG Academy) Amon-Ra St. Brown, 6-1, 187, Santa Ana, Calif. (Mater Dei) Tight End Judge Culpepper, 6-5, 240, Tampa, Fla. (Plant) Mustapha Muhammad, 6-5, 225, Missouri City, Texas (Ridge Point) Jeremy Ruckert, 6-6, 215, Lindenhurst, N.Y. (Lindenhurst Senior) Leonard Taylor, 6-5, 240, Springfield, Ohio (Springfield) Offensive Line Jackson Carman, 6-6, 260, Fairfield, Ohio (Fairfield) John Dirksen, 6-5, 290, Maria Stein, Ohio (Marion Local)* Ryan Hayes, 6-7, 250, Traverse City, Mich. (West)* Nick Petit-Frere, 6-5, 240, Tampa, Fla. (Berkley Prep)* Jamaree Salyer, 6-4, 305, Atlanta (Pace Academy) Defensive End Justin Ademilola, 6-3, 234, Jersey City, N.J. (St. Peters) K.J. Henry, 6-5, 220, Clemmons, N.C. (West Forsyth) Justin Mascoll, 6-4, 210, Snellville, Ga. (South Gwinnett) Tyreke Smith, 6-4, 250, University Heights, Ohio (Cleveland Heights) Malik Vann, 6-3, 245, Fairfield, Ohio (Fairfield) Elijah Wade, 6-5, 240, Las Vegas (Arbor View) Defensive Tackle Jayson Ademilola, 6-3, 265, Jersey City, N.J. (St. Peter's Prep) Aeneas Hawkins, 6-3, 260, Cincinnati (Moeller) Robert Cooper, 6-2, 350, Snellville, Ga. (South Gwinnett)* — Fla. State commit PJ Mustipher, 6-5, 275, Owings Mills, Md. (McDonogh) Josh Walker, 6-2, 285, Bradenton, Fla. (IMG Academy)* Linebacker Matthew Bauer, 6-3, 216, Erie, Pa. (Cathedral Prep) Dallas Gant, 6-3, 208, Toledo, Ohio (St. John's Jesuit) Palaie Gaoteote, 6-2, 210, Las Vegas (Bishop Gorman) Teradja Mitchell, 6-2, 205, Virginia Beach, Va. (Bishop Sullivan Catholic) Alston Orji, 6-2, 216, Rockwall, Texas (Rockwall)* Ovie Oghoufo, 6-2, 207, Farmington Hills, Mich. (Harrison) Solomon Tuliaupupu, 6-3, 215, Claremont, Calif. (Claremont) Cornerback Derrik Allen, 6-1, 204, Marietta, Ga. (Lassiter) Anthony Cook, 6-1, 170, Houston (Lamar) Tre' Douglas, 6-2, 182, McDonough, Ga. (Eagle's Landing Christian) Jalen Green, 6-2, 165, Houston (Heights) Houston Griffith, 6-0, 185, Bradenton, Fla. (IMG Academy) Brendan Radley-Hiles, 5-10, 175, Calabasas, Calif. (Calabasas) Asante Samuel, 5-10, 164, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (St. Thomas Aquinas) Myles Sims, 6-3, 173, Atlanta (Westlake) Patrick Surtain, 6-2, 183, Plantation, Fla. (American Heritage) Isaac Taylor-Stuart, 6-2, 177, San Diego (St. Augustine) Christian Tutt, 5-11, 184, Thomson, Ga. (Thomson) Safety Aashari Crosswell, 5-10, 185, Los Angeles (Hawkins) Gurvan Hall, 6-1, 185, West Palm Beach, Fla. (Palm Beach Lakes) Adrian Jackson, 6-3, 205, Denver (Mullen) Shayne Simon, 6-2, 195, Jersey City, N.J. (St. Peter's Prep)* Athlete Talanoa Hufanga 6-1, 194, Corvallis, Ore. (Crescent Valley) Tyreke Johnson, 6-1, 177, Jacksonville, Fla. (Trinity Christian) Braden Lenzy 6-0, 165, Portland, Ore. (Tigard) Kyler McMichael, 6-1, 185, Duluth, Ga. (Northview) L'Christian Smith, 6-5, 215, Huber Heights, Ohio (Wayne) Jaiden Woodbey, 6-2, 205, Bellflower, Calif. (St. John Bosco) — Ohio State commit Commitments in bold italics; * Received an offer between Jan. 6 and Feb. 3 Class Of 2018 Scholarship Offer Master List Master List Changes Prospects Removed: WR Xavier Williams of Hollywood, Fla. (committed to Alabama); and DE Xavier Thomas of Bradenton, Fla. (no longer consider- ing Notre Dame). Recruiting Notes • Notre Dame hosted its first Junior Day of 2017 Feb. 11. Expected visitors included Notre Dame commit Markese Stepp of Indianapolis Cathedral, the No. 12 running back and No. 200 overall player in the nation; Braden Lenzy of Portland (Ore.) Tigard, the No. 21 athlete and No. 238 overall pros- pect in the country; Micah Jones of Gurnee (Ill.) Warren Township, the No. 27 wide receiver and No. 158 overall prospect nationally; Tyreke Smith of University Heights (Ohio) Cleveland Heights, the No. 9 strongside defensive end and No. 196 overall player in the land; and Aeneas Hawkins of Cincin- nati Moeller, the No. 16 defensive tackle and No. 229 overall recruit in the nation. Notre Dame normally hosts a junior day in Janu- ary, but did not this year due to the coaching staff turnover. The men's basketball team will host Florida State that night, and the recruits are likely to attend. • With the 2017 recruiting cycle now over, the Irish coaching staff has turned its full attention to the class of 2018. Four new offers went out the week of National Signing Day, with three of them coming Jan. 31 and one Feb. 1. The Jan. 31 offers were extended to Carthage (Texas) High three-star running back Keaontay Ingram, and unranked offensive linemen John Dirksen of Maria Stein (Ohio) Marion Local and Ryan Hayes of Traverse City (Michigan) West. Baltimore Gilman School Rivals250 athlete Thomas Booker earned an offer from the Irish on National Signing Day. He is ranked as the No. 17 athlete and No. 210 overall player nationally. • The class of 2019 will also be getting additional attention moving forward. Notre Dame has of- fered nine players in the class, including Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei quarterback JT Daniels, who will very likely be a Rivals five-star recruit and the No. 1 quarterback in the class. Daniels has expressed early interest in the Irish, but he will be one of — if not the — most sought after recruits in the 2109 cycle. During his sopho- more season, he threw for 4,849 yards and 67 touchdowns. • After the decommitments of four-stars Paulson Adebo and Elijah Hicks, Notre Dame was left with zero cornerbacks in the 2017 signing class. Going forward, it will be a position of priority for head coach Brian Kelly and his staff in the 2018 cycle.