Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/89043
Committed Targets BY JASON SAPP "A made to the blueprint and the level of success a program is having, there's al- ways going to be at least one prospect to watch during a recruiting campaign. For the 2013 recruiting haul, Exhibit lyst Tom Lemming Regardless of the tweaks that are ll is fair in love and recruiting." — CBSSports national recruiting ana- FOOTBALL RECRUITING side linebacker Danny Mattingly of Spokane, Wash., has been rumored to be a possible decommitment (see page 43) — it must be remembered that Notre Dame is also courting prospects that have committed elsewhere. Three of them were on campus for the dra- matic 20-13 overtime victory against Stanford. Here's a rundown of the trio. CHRIS HAWKINS CB, 6-0, 175, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. (Rancho Cucamonga) 247Sports Ranking: Four-star recruit, the A is four-star linebacker commit Alex Anzalone of Wyomissing, Pa. He com- mitted to the Irish in early July after decommitting from Ohio State, but recently took a visit to Florida for its game against LSU and then canceled a return trip to Notre Dame for the BYU game (see page 43). While the common knee-jerk reac- tion by a team's fanbase is to write off a player that is wavering, it's become part of the recruiting process, espe- cially with so many players making commitments before the start of their senior years. Some programs have a strict ap- No. 8 player in California, the No. 9 cornerback in the country and the na- tion's No. 91 overall prospect. Comments: "All we can say is Notre Dame has a classy program. Chris was very impressed with the coaching staff and the fans." (Via a released statement from Armond Hawkins Sr. after declining interviews for his son, Chris) The Skinny: Hawkins arrived in South proach when it comes to pursuing a prospect that is committed elsewhere. For instance, Notre Dame waits until communication is reciprocated, while others will negatively recruit a pros- pect away from the school he's chosen. When the urge arises to quickly sin- gle out a recruit for considering other options —another Irish commit, out- Bend, Ind., with no intentions of switching his commitment from USC, but Notre Dame made a strong impres- sion and he considered returning to campus a couple of weeks later with his father for an unofficial visit … The courtship was over rather abruptly. Ar- mond Sr. reported just two days later that the visit wouldn't take place, his son was "100 percent committed" to USC and Notre Dame was no longer under consideration.