Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MAY 2017 45 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ROUNDUP Ovie Oghoufo, 6-2, 207, Farmington Hills, Mich. (Harrison) Azeez Ojulari, 6-3, 222, Marietta, Ga. (Marietta)* Channing Tindall, 6-2, 206, Columbia, S.C. (Spring Valley) Alan Tisdale, 6-3, 206, Greensboro, N.C. (Page) Solomon Tuliaupupu, 6-3, 215, Claremont, Calif. (Claremont) Eli'Jah Winston, 6-3, 230, Portland, Ore. (Central Catholic)* Cornerback Sevyn Banks, 6-1, 180, Orlando, Fla. (Jones)* Anthony Cook, 6-1, 170, Houston (Lamar) Kalon Gervin, 5-11, 180, Detroit (Cass Tech) Kyler Gordon, 5-10, 175, Everett, Wash. (Archbishop Murphy) Jalen Green, 6-2, 165, Houston (Heights) Houston Griffith, 6-1, 192, Bradenton, Fla. (IMG Academy) Nasir Peoples, 6-1, 180, Warminster (Archbishop Wood Christian) — Virginia Tech commit Isaac Taylor-Stuart, 6-2, 177, San Diego (St. Augustine) Christian Tutt, 5-11, 184, Thomson, Ga. (Thomson) Safety Derrik Allen, 6-1, 204 Marietta, Ga. (Lassiter) Aashari Crosswell, 5-10, 185, Los Angeles (Hawkins) Trey Dean, 6-2, 180, Hampton, Ga. (Dutchtown) B.J. Foster, 6-2, 180, Angleton, Texas (Angleton High) Jevon Holland, 6-1, 175, Oakland, Calif. (Bishop O'Dowd) Isaiah Humphries, 5-11, 185, Sachse, Texas (Sachse)* — Penn State commit Julius Irvin, 6-1, 180, Anaheim, Calif. (Servite) Adrian Jackson, 6-3, 205, Denver (Mullen) D'Angelo McKenzie, 6-0, 182, San Jose, Calif. (Valley Christian)* Shayne Simon, 6-2, 195, Jersey City, N.J. (St. Peter's Prep) Athlete Brian Asamoah, 6-1, 205, Columbus, Ohio (St. Francis DeSales) Jaquayln Crawford, 5-10, 163, Rockdale, Texas (Rockdale) Tre'Shaun Harrison, 6-1, 185, Seattle (Garfield) Talanoa Hufanga 6-1, 194, Corvallis, Ore. (Crescent Valley) Kearis Jackson, 6-0, 191, Fort Valley, Ga. (Peach County) 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) Devon Williams, 6-4, 196, Lancaster, Calif. (Antelope Valley) Commitments in bold italics * Received an offer between March 10 and April 21 RECRUITING NOTES • Notre Dame held a big recruiting event over the weekend of the annual Blue-Gold Game April 22. The Irish welcomed in several top targets and other players hoping to land an Irish offer. The headliners for the weekend were Toledo (Ohio) St. John's four-star linebacker Dallas Gant, Medford (Ore.) South Medford four-star wide re- ceiver Chase Cota, Owings Mills (Md.) McDonogh four-star defensive tackle PJ Mustipher and Coco- nut Creek (Fla.) North Broward Prep four-star wide receiver Kevin Austin. The Irish are right in the thick of things for all four, and having eight of the 12 current commits on campus over the weekend definitely helped. Gant, the No. 19 outside linebacker in the class of 2018 according to Rivals, has Notre Dame in his top five and will announce his commitment publicly May 16. Sources close to Cota, Rivals' No. 34 wide receiver and No. 179 overall player in the nation, have in- dicated that Notre Dame is in his top group, but a decision isn't likely to come any time soon — the family hopes to avoid a flip in the future. Austin, the No. 24 wide receiver and No. 129 over- all prospect in the nation according to Rivals, has Notre Dame in his top eight, but the Irish are likely near the top of that list. The earliest he's discussed committing to a school is this summer. With Mustipher, no timeline has been set, but he has taken several spring visits, including to Ohio State, Penn State, Virginia Tech and Tennessee. Ri- vals' No. 8 defensive tackle and No. 36 overall player in the country has said before that he plans on tak- ing his time before making a decision. • Several Notre Dame commits and targets are slated to appear at Nike Football's The Opening Fi- nals this summer in Beaverton, Ore., following their performances at regional camps around the coun- try. Four-star safety commit Derrik Allen earned his invite after a strong showing in Atlanta, plus four- star cornerback commit Kalon Gervin and three- star linebacker commit Ovie Oghoufo both earned invites after competing in the Chicago Regional. Notre Dame targets that have earned invites include Austin, Cota, Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei five-star wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, Houston La- mar five-star defensive back Anthony Cook, Salt Lake City Olympus four-star defensive end Cameron Latu, Plantation (Fla.) American Heritage three-star wide receiver Anthony Schwartz and Naples (Fla.) Gulf Coast three-star tight end George Takacs. The camp will be held at Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Ore., June 28-July 3. • Notre Dame hosted a trio of talented visitors April 13 in four-star linebackers Shayne Simon and Andrew Chatfield, along with three-star defen- sive back Ely Doyle. Chatfield, the No. 12 outside linebacker and No. 198 overall player in the nation according to Rivals, made a somewhat surprising mid-week visit to campus. He had told Blue & Gold Illustrated that a visit was possible, but nothing had been put on the books. Simon, Rivals' No. 9 outside linebacker and No. 127 overall prospect in the country, is a top rover target for the staff. A source close to his recruitment has told Blue & Gold Illustrated that he is likely down to Notre Dame and Michigan. Doyle, the No. 64 prospect in California according to Rivals, stopped in during a Midwest visit swing and was told that the Irish will continue to evaluate him going forward. — Corey Bodden and David McKinney Master List Changes Prospects Removed: RB TJ Pledger of Bradenton, Fla. (committed to Oklahoma); RB Christian Turner of Buford, Ga. (committed to Michigan); WR Manuel Allen of Corona, Calif. (committed to Nebraska); WR Michael Wilson of West Hills, Calif. (committed to Stanford); DE K.J. Henry of Clemmons, N.C. (no longer considering Notre Dame); DE Justin Mascoll of Snellville, Ga. (committed to Clemson); DE Malik Vann of Fairfield, Ohio (committed to Cincinnati); LB Payton Wilson of Hillsborough, N.C. (no longer considering Notre Dame); DB Brendan Radley-Hiles of Bradenton, Fla. (committed to Nebraska); DB Myles Sims of Atlanta (committed to Michigan); and DB Patrick Surtain of Plantation, Fla. (no longer considering Notre Dame); TE Will Mallory of Jacksonville, Fla. (committed to Miami, Fla.); RB Jashaun Corbin of Melbourne, Fla. (committed to Tennessee); WR Jahan Dotson of Hightstown, N.J. (no longer considering Notre Dame); WR Joshua Moore of Bradenton, Fla. (no longer considering Notre Dame); OL Tuli Letuligasenoa of Concord, Calif. (committed to USC); S Gurvan Hall of West Palm Beach, Fla. (committed to Miami, Fla.); CB Tre Douglas of Mc- Donough, Ga. (no longer considering Notre Dame); CB D'Shawn Jamison of Houston, Texas (no longer considering Notre Dame). Florida defensive end Andrew Chatfield made a surprise visit to Notre Dame in the middle of April. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM