Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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48 NOV. 6, 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED FOOTBALL RECRUITING BY DAVID MCKINNEY AND COREY BODDEN N otre Dame welcomed 12 official visitors during the USC game weekend, including eight uncommit- ted prospects. It was the second big gathering of the fall for the Irish staff, following the Georgia contest in early September. The success of the weekend will be determined by the prospects that wind up in the class by National Signing Day. Notre Dame is off to a solid start after landing local safety target Paul Moala of Mishawaka (Ind.) Penn. The following is a rundown on the remaining seven uncommitted official visitors and where their recruitments stand following the visits. TARIQ BRACY CORNERBACK • MILPITAS (CALIF.) HIGH Rivals Rankings: Three-star talent and the No. 37 athlete nationally. The Skinny: Notre Dame led for Bracy coming into the official visit, and the Irish widened the gap on the competition over the weekend. The factor that jumped out the most to Bracy was the atmosphere in Notre Dame Stadium. He could hardly find words to describe the game environ- ment. "It's hard to explain," Bracy said. "The whole crowd was into it. It was really electric, like the coaches were saying." The play of the defense also grabbed his attention. The California talent said he was impressed with the intensity and physicality the unit showed against the Trojans. During the game, Bracy spent time chatting with current Notre Dame commits in the class of 2018, and said getting to know them opened his eyes to what a life and playing career at Notre Dame would look like. "They're great," Bracy said. "It feels like the coaching staff is bring- ing a special recruiting class in for the future." Going forward, Notre Dame is firmly in the driver's seat for Bracy, but one West Coast program could change that. Bracy is going to take his time before making a decision, and said he wants to wait and see if he lands an offer from USC. AVONTA CRIM SAFETY • OCALA (FLA.) VANGUARD Rivals Rankings: Three-star talent. The Skinny: All Notre Dame had to do to grab the momentum in the recruitment of Crim was offer him, and all Crim had to do to land that offer was make a visit to campus. Both of those things happened the weekend of the USC game, and the Irish are now in the top spot for the safety. Defensive coordinator Mike Elko has been leading the charge in Crim's recruitment and was the coach that let him know he officially had an offer. The two have built a strong bond over the last several months, and Crim is a big fan of Elko. "It was good talking to Coach Elko," Crim said. "Since he's been on me, that's been my guy. He's a good dude. I like the way he coaches and seeing what he did against USC the other night. He's a good coach." Coming out of the trip, Crim named Notre Dame his leader and admitted that he thought about committing on the spot after landing the offer. How- ever, he wants to think things over for a while, and possibly take a few more visits before making a decision. Schools like Clemson and Florida have been showing interest, but at this point, it looks like Notre Dame will be tough to beat for the Florida safety. CHRIS MURRAY OFFENSIVE GUARD • SANTA ANA (CALIF.) MATER DEI Rivals Rankings: Four-star talent and the No. 17 offensive guard in the country. The Skinny: Notre Dame is look- ing to add at least one more offen- sive lineman to its 2018 class, and potentially two if the right combina- tion comes along. Murray, who made his first trip to South Bend for the USC Game Brings Huge Crop Of Talent To South Bend Notre Dame extended an offer to three-star Florida safety Avonta Crim during his official visit for the USC game Oct. 21. PHOTO BY ANGELA DRISKELL