Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MARCH 2018 21 2018 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE lack of so-called "star power." The Irish did not sign a five-star prospect — landing 12 four-stars and 15 three-stars — while Georgia signed an astounding eight five- stars, and Ohio State landed three to complement 18 four-stars. USC, ranked No. 3 by Rivals, signed only 18 players, but landed five five-star recruits and the other 13 were four-stars. Six of No. 8 Clem- son's 17 recruits were five-stars. Kelly acknowledged last year that certain "distinctions" at Notre Dame are likely to preclude them from landing many top-five classes, but that it can consistently be in the top- 10 range, which it has been. "There's always circumstances as to why maybe they're not as high a profile, and I think that we strictly try to work on their fit athletically and their fit culturally here at Notre Dame," Kelly said this month. ✦ 3 Members from St. Peter's Prep in Jersey City, N.J. — the same high school that junior quarterback Brandon Wimbush attended — signed with Notre Dame: Defensive line brothers Jayson and Justin Ademilola, and rover Shayne Simon. Lou Holtz's first year as head coach (1986) was the last time the Fighting Irish signed at least three from the same high school in the same recruiting year. That's when they raided the Chicago Catholic League to ink five from St. Laurence (offensive linemen Paul Glonek, Jeff Pearson, Mike Harazin and Tim Grunhard, and cornerback Stan Sma- gala), and St. Rita (linebacker John Foley and linemen Jason Cegielski and John Zaleski). 6 Players who starred on state championship teams as seniors: linebacker Bo Bauer and quarterback Phil Jurkovec in Penn- sylvania, cornerback TaRiq Bracy and offensive lineman Jarrett Patterson in California, and offensive linemen John Dirksen and Luke Jones in Ohio and Arkansas, respectively. Jones played on four straight state title teams at Pulaski Academy. Bauer won his last 28 games at Cathedral Prep (14-0 each season), while Dirksen won 27 straight at Marion Local. 7 Early enrollees who began the spring semester at Notre Dame Jan. 15: running back Jah- mir Smith, wide receiver Mi- cah Jones, tight end George Takacs, linebackers Bo Bauer, Jack Lamb and Shayne Simon, and defensive back Houston Griffith. Since the first group of early enrollees 12 years ago in 2006, this year's is the most, eclipsing the five that enrolled five different times, most recently last year with offensive linemen Aaron Banks and Robert Hainsey, running back C.J. Holmes, safety Isaiah Robertson and tight end Brock Wright. 7-3 Advantage in number of players in the 2018 recruiting span who flipped verbal commitments — at least pub- licly — from other schools to Notre Dame, and vice versa. Five occurred officially on National Sign- ing Day Feb. 7, while the other two earlier were re- ceiver Braden Lenzy from Oregon and defensive back Houston Griffith from Florida State. The three who originally committed to Notre Dame before switching were cornerback Kalon Gervin (Michigan State), wide receiver Geordon Porter (Arizona State) and running back Markese Stepp (USC). 8 Players invited to two of the most visible national all-star games. Five were selected to the U.S. Army All-American Bowl Jan. 6 in San Antonio: defensive lineman Jayson Ademilola, defensive back Derrik Allen, quarterback Phil Jurkovec, linebacker/rover SHAYNE SIMON and tight end George Takacs. Three participated in the Under Armour All-American Game Jan. 4 in St. Petersburg, Fla.: cornerback DJ Brown, cornerback/safety Houston Griffith and linebacker Jack Lamb. 10 Cumulative ranking of Notre Dame's 2018 recruiting class by the three major outlets: Rivals (No. 11), 247Sports (No. 10) and ESPN (No. 9). It is the first time Notre Dame is a collective top 10 since 2013, when it had a cumulative ranking of 3.4 by five different outlets, including No. 3 by Rivals and 247Sports, and No. 4 by ESPN. However, that was before five-star defensive lineman Eddie Vanderdoes opted to stay in California with UCLA despite signing a letter of intent with the Irish. 15 States represented in the 27-man class, led by three apiece from New Jersey, Georgia, Florida and Califor- nia. In addition there were two each from Pennsylvania, Illinois and Maryland, and one from Louisiana, Arkansas, Ohio, Or- egon, Tennessee, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina plus the District of Columbia. No. 1-ranked Georgia had 14 of its 26 commits come from within its state borders. No. 3 USC saw 12 of its 18 hail from California, while No. 4 Texas had 19 of its 27 from the Lone Star State. 21.34 Time of wide receiver Braden Lenzy in the 200 meters, the sixth fastest in Oregon high school history. The runner-up in the state meet in the event last spring also runs the 100 meters, 400 meters — where he is a two-time state champion — and 300-meter hurdles. He will also compete in track at Notre Dame, similar to current Irish cornerback Troy Pride Jr. 27 Players signed in the 2018 re- cruiting cycle, the most in head coach Brian Kelly's nine seasons, sur- passing the 24 in 2013. It also is the most since 2006, when head coach Charlie Weis and his staff inked 28, three of whom enrolled in January. A team can get past the NCAA limit of 25 by applying the early enrollees to the previous year's class (with that group not going past 25). The Irish signed 21 players last year. 2018 Recruiting By The Numbers PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM