Recruiting Junior.

Junior!

No, not that Junior.

Juniors.  As in, the dudes who will be seniors next year. In High School.  Who will, a year from now, make us happy or sad on signing day once again.

While this year was obviously a kick-@$$ year on the trail for Charlie, Corwin and company, the coaches are already looking to next year's players.  And, actually, have been for a while.  We all know about the insanely early start the Irish had last year, landing a ton of early commitments that ended up being the core of the class.  While USC looks to be the team out to the early start this year, ND's staff is out there in force once again making the rounds. 

Although Ty Willie helped implement a rule (let's call it the Handicap Rule, yeah double entendre!!!) that keeps Charlie at home during the early part of this year, ND's staff is doing its best to make waves with the young recruits once again.  Targeting the right kids with the right goals and the athletic and academic fit for ND.

So far the Irish have extended a select number of offers.  Here's the run-down of the official offers made to date:

Cierre Wood - RB from Oxnard, CA.  6'0", 176 pounds.   Of note:  Yours truly got hitched on the beachin Cierre's hometown.  Also of note:  Oxnard is actually pretty fun, despite the name/rep.

Craig Loston - Safety from Aldine Texas.  6'1", 183 pounds. Of Note:  Early 4 star on Rivals.

Chris Bonds - DE from Columbia South Carolina.  6'4", 262.  Of note:  No relation to Barry.

Dalton Hilliard - Running Back from Honolulu, Hawaii.  6'0", 183.  Of note:  Honolulu is on the island of Oahu.  Which is the most popular tourist destination in the state along with Maui, but is NOT the "Big Island".  Remember that when planning vacation/honeymoon.

DeVonte Holloman - Safety from Charlotte, NC.  6'2", 205.   Of note:  Early 4 star on both Rivals and Scout.  Coolest name so far in the offeree list, but nowhere near Golden or Slaughter in the overall ND name rankings.  DeVonte's game is much better than the movie with Kevin Bacon where you actually don't get to see Kevin Bacon.  But he was really acting!

Devon Kennard - DE from Phoenix.  6'2", 225lbs.  Of note:  Early 5 star on Rivals, 4 star on Scout.  Big competition for Devon, from USC, Michigan, and everyone else.  Also of note, I never know if you're supposed to put a word that ends (like Devon) before or after a very similar word that keeps going (like DeVonte) when doing alphabetical order.  So, sorry if that's all F-ed up. I guessed.

Eric Shrive - OL/DT from Scranton, PA.  6'7", 285.  Of note:  Scranton is where "The Office" is set.   Love that town.

Isaac Holmes - Defensive Tackle from Hoboken NJ.  6'3", 290.  Of note:  Duval Kamara's cousin.  Inside game is good game.

Jamarkus McFarland - DT from Lufkin, TX.  6'3", 280 pounds.  Of note:  Early Rivals 5 star and Top 100 player.  Heavy Texas lean, though.  Don't do it Jamarkus!

Manti Te'o - Inside Linebacker from Honolulu.  6'1", 225.  Of note:  It's starting to seem like somebody on the staff has been enjoying the islands.  Also, SICK name.  Jumps to #1 in the class.  Can totally picture a MAN-TI,  TE-OOOOOOOO cheer when this dude crushes an opposing QB in Notre Dame stadium.  Manti is also shy.  No picture on the profile.

Marlon Brown - Wide Receiver from Memphis, TN.  6'5", 205 pounds.  Of note: Early 5 star on Rivals.  Friends with current ND WR Golden Tate.

Shaquelle Evans - WR from Inglewood, Cali.  6'2" 190 pounds.   Of note:  According to Tupac "Inglewood is always up to no good".  If being up to no good means slicing through opposing defenses with lightning quick speed and sick hands, I get it.

Xavier Nixon - Offensive Tackle from Fayetteville NC.  6'6", 275 lbs.  Of note:  Lots of more-local competition from Clemson, SC, NC State and Miami.   My boy is 'not a crook'.  Peace!

In addition to these 13 offers, there is a TON of mutual interest out there, and I'd expect more offers to be flowing as kids qualify academically through test scores, etc., and as Charlie's Recruiting Army keeps the trails blazing.

Here's to the Recruiting Class of '09 matching or out-classing our stellar Class of '08.