Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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The Replacements FOOTBALL RECRUITING BY JASON SAPP cruits are always unpre- dictable. In the final hour of the 2012 recruiting campaign, for example, five-star players like Ron- ald Darby (Florida State) and Deontay Greenberry (Houston) defected to other schools. Instead of harping on A lesson Notre Dame has learned the hard way is that re- takes official visits to other programs. With Mattingly taking a trip to the ones that got away, the coaching staff contin- ued to develop the cur- rent roster, which had a 10-0 record heading into its contest against Wake Forest Nov. 17, and put forth a strong focus on keeping its committed recruits. When four-star inside linebacker Outside linebacker Danny Mattingly remains commit- ted to Notre Dame, but his increased interest in playing tight end at the collegiate level has him looking at Oregon, Washington and others. PHOTO COURTESY 247SPORTS Alex Anzalone of Wyomissing, Pa., solidified his pledge to the Irish fol- lowing a two-day trip to South Bend after the Pitt game Nov. 3, the only re- maining player that was still express- ing interest in other programs was outside linebacker Danny Mattingly of Spokane, Wash. The 6-4, 215-pound four-star player ican. Washington and also in the process of scheduling one to Oregon, Notre Dame has remained proactive in keeping other options in play in case 1) the Irish pledge opts to go elsewhere and 2) the coaching staff feels there's a better fit that wants to play for the school. Here's a rundown of four prep All-Americans Notre Dame is targeting as a possible replacement if either of those scenarios occur. 6-4, 255, Santa Ana, Calif. (Mater Dei) Status: Offered, Semper Fi All-Amer- THOMAS DUARTE yards and seven touchdowns. 247Sports Ranking: Three-star recruit, Junior Season: Made 52 catches for 819 is an archetype of the "big skill" cat- egory on the Irish roster, a la sopho- more Troy Niklas. And while Notre Dame still sees him as a fit and has continued to court his services, he's aware of the policy that a scholarship is no longer guaranteed if a commit the No. 38 player in California and the nation's No. 14 tight end. The Skinny: Duarte is a recruit the Irish extended an offer to earlier in the pro- cess. Now, he is in a waiting position as a late "big skill" option in the class that can play tight end or outside line- backer … He has yet to schedule a visit to campus, but depending upon the numbers game he could make a late official visit … Notre Dame, Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington are the five programs currently leading the