Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com APRIL 2017 13 UNDER THE DOME IT'S TOURNAMENT TIME. BASKETBALL ® PURCELL PAVILION LEEP VARSITY SHOP Yet Holmes did not catch a pass his first two seasons at Notre Dame, redshirting as a sophomore. In what was anticipated to be a breakout year in 2016, Holmes had his moments but finished only eighth in receiving yards with 96 (on 11 catches, none for scores). Headlined by junior Equa- nimeous St. Brown (58 catches, 961 yards, nine touchdowns), all seven ahead of him return, and that's not even including tight end Alizé Jones, who snared 13 passes for 190 yards as a freshman in 2015 but was aca- demically ineligible last season. A Wilmington, Del., native, Canteen was ranked as a four-star prospect by Rivals out of Eastern Christian High School (Elkton, Md.) in 2014. As an early enrollee, he created a buzz at Ann Arbor during the spring of 2014 under head coach Brady Hoke, culmi- nated by taking a short pass for a 45- yard touchdown in the spring game. "He's amazing," then sophomore cornerback Jourdan Lewis said to MLive.com. "He's really explosive. He's just a playmaker. He can do anything on that field." "He's fast," echoed then star re- ceiver Devin Funchess. "He can do everything. He can do things to get open and stretch the field." "That's the guy everybody was talking about his first spring ball," The Wolverine editor John Borton said of Canteen. "It was his quickness and speed that first caught everybody's attention. Then it was a little bit sur- prising that he didn't do more." As a 2014 freshman, Canteen played in 10 games (starting two) and fin- ished with five catches for 22 yards, highlighted by a three-yard touch- down in the season finale in the fi- nal minute of a 42-28 loss at eventual national champ Ohio State. Michigan finished 5-7, Hoke was fired and un- der new coach Jim Harbaugh the stock fell dramatically for Canteen, whose lone catch in the five games (one start) he appeared in 2015 was for no yards. Canteen also reportedly received an audition at cornerback, but shoulder problems led to him not even being listed on the roster in the spring of 2016 and he sat out the entire campaign. "He had a pair of shoulder surger- ies, and Jim was establishing all sorts of new ways of doing things," Borton said. "[Canteen] was bogged down by the injuries and got lost in the shuffle a little bit." At Notre Dame, the receiver will grab a new opportunity. — Lou Somogyi CLEMSON GRADUATE DEFENSIVE TACKLE SCOTT PAGANO VISITS THE IRISH On the weekend of March 3-5, Notre Dame's coaching staff hosted 2013-16 Clemson defensive tackle Scott Pagano, who is looking for a new home to play his final year of eligibility in 2017. Redshirted as a freshman, the 6-3, 295-pound Pagano received his de- gree in sociology in December and recorded 31 tackles, 4.5 stops for loss and two sacks this past season for the national champion Tigers. During his career with the Tigers, he totaled 92 stops, 6.5 tackles for loss and two sacks in 31 career games (13 starts). However, he is also looking for more playing time to showcase his potential NFL stock, and finding more snaps is difficult in Clemson's power- ful and depth-laden defensive front that includes former five-star recruits Christian Wilkins and Dexter Law- rence. He also is scheduled to take official visits to Oklahoma (March 31), Arkansas (April 7) and Oregon (April 21), and possibly others. The Honolulu native was recruited Canteen caught only six passes for 22 yards and one touchdown in two seasons at Michigan, but has reportedly has been clocked at 4.43 in the 40-yard dash. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL