The ESPN 150 was released today, so I thought it would be a perfect time to see where ND stands in recruiting. With South Bend RB/OLB David Perkins verbally committing to ND yesterday afternoon, the Irish stand at 10 commitments so far. With an expected class of 20-22 players, depending on how many 5 year players are invited back, Brian Kelly and staff have to be happy where they are.
In the past month or so, the Irish have gotten the following commits:
Deontay Greenberry - WR:
6’3” WR from Fresno, CA. He’s cousins with Tee Shepard which can only help keep Tee in the fold. Rivals, Scout, & 24/7 have him ranked as a 4* WR and ESPN has as a 3*.
Mark Harrell - OL
6’5” 265 LB OL from Charlotte, NC. Harrell ended his recruitment sooner than most people expected and gave ND their 2nd OL commit for the class. He is ranked as a 3* by Scout, Rivals, and 24/7 and a 4* by ESPN.
CJ Prosise - S
6’2” Safety from Woodberry Forest, VA. Committed to ND before ever visiting, joining Tee Shepard, Roby Toma and Justin Utopo as recent ND commits/players who have done so. A 3* safety from all major recruiting services
David Perkins - ATH
6’2” RB/OLB from South Bend, IN. Perkins received his offer from Brian Kelly and took about a week before deciding to end his recruitment. He’s indicated that he’ll probably start his Irish career as a rush OLB. Scout & ESPN have him as a 4* athlete.
Among prior ND commits:
Ronald Darby, Justin Ferguson and Tee Shepard landed in the ESPN 150 at #70, #75, and #89 respectively.
Now, before you put on your “Brian Kelly can’t recruit!” diapers and spring to the message board to remind everyone how you always knew BK couldn’t compete with the big boys, I’d like to point out a couple of things:
1) Most elite talent waits till Signing Day or the post-season all-star games to make their commitments.
2) At this time last year, we were sitting in a similar place. Stephon Tuitt, Aaron Lynch, Ishaq Williams, and George Atkinson had not yet committed.
3) Unless you are playing in a NCAA football dynasty, no one builds a recruiting class with all 5 stars.
4) We’ve offered a shit-ton of recruits this year. Most offers = more “misses”. Every “miss” isn’t proof that BK can’t recruit and every commit isn’t evidence that BK = teh greatest coach evah!
5) ND is still in on a great shape with a butt-load of talent. A great season on the field that we all are hoping/expecting will help ND finish strong.
Among the ESPN 150, the following players have expressed legit interest in the Irish: ESPN 150 Link (Insider Only)
Names of interest:
#3 - Dorial Green-Beckham - WR
#4 - Noah Spence - DE/OLB
#6 - Keith Marshall - RB
#17 - Arik Armstead - OL/DL
#18 - Noor Davis - LB
#21 - Shaq Thompson - S
#22 - Andrus Peat - OL
#27 - John Theus - OL
#30 - Kyle Murphy - OL
#31 - Geno Smith - DB
#41 - Nelson Aghlohor - ATH
#43 - Josh Garnett - OLD
#50 - Ifeadi Odenigbo - LB
#62 - Durron Neal - WR
#88 - Aziz Shittu - DE
#90 - Byron Marshall - RB
#97 - Jarron Jones - OT
#101 - Se'Von Pittman - DL
#103 - Jordan Diamond - OL
#125 - Zach Banner - OL
#135 - Tommy Schutt - DL
#136 - Byron Poole - DB
That is by no means an inclusive list and some of the interest in ND may not actually be legitimate. As always, plenty of recruits say they are going to visit, don’t get excited until it is actually scheduled.
A couple of random items about ND’s recruiting (gleaned my super-secret inside sources*)
1) We’re probably not going to get a TE this year. Most of the top ones we’ve offered have verballed elsewhere and we are well-stocked so don’t expect any new offers to go out.
2) ND may pass on a QB this year also as QB recruiting seems to be Maty Mauk or no one. Gunner Kiel is an extreme long shot at this point
3) To my surprise, DT isn’t a high priority this recruiting cycle.
4) ND wants to load up on OL, OLB, WR, & DB
a)with some OL/WR/DB’s already committed, we will be picky and wait on the elite players
5) RB is probably the main position that we should be worried about (PootND: Master of Stating the Obvious!)
*hahahahaha I don’t have secret sources. Most of that is taken from ISD and/or Mike Frank’s Power Hour
By theIrishLion10 June 8, 2011 - 2:45 pm
We obviously need RBs, with only Wood, Gray, McDaniel, and (kind of) Atkinson there, but there’s only ONE on that target list. Does this mean the staff is very confident that they will get Marshall? Are they recruiting someone under the radar noone knows about? Are they satisfied with Wood, McDaniel, and Roberson when he is back and healthy?
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By PootND June 8, 2011 - 3:25 pm
2 Things:
1)I’m an idiot and Byron Marshall is also a RB.
2)That isn’t a target list. That is just a decent sized sampling of players on the ESPN 150 that are considering us.
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By theIrishLion10 June 8, 2011 - 5:22 pm
I am also an idiot and failed to take into account your line “among the ESPN 150.” But still, RB spot makes me nervous after missing in the last class. If we get another CB or two, could we see Darby’s speed in the backfield? Just another guess/wishfull thinking
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By PootND June 8, 2011 - 3:27 pm
We are still going after running backs like:
Brian Kimbrow 4* on ESPN, just not in Top 150
Will Mahone – 4* on ESPN, not in Top 150
I’Tavius Mathers – 3* on ESPN
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By E-Man June 8, 2011 - 4:17 pm
Does Arik Armstead really have legitimate ND interest? Last I saw he was verballed to USC.
Still, there’s a long way to go in recruiting from right now, not counting the impact of a big winning year or a regressive 2nd year blues year, if either one is in the cards for ND. Couple that with the 15 “updates” we’ll get to the rankings before NSD, the fact that the various services tend to not agree, the Heggie (aka outta-nowhere recruit) factor, and the crap-shoot in general with recruiting, I have more confidence that Mitt Romney standing on the capitol steps in 2013 with a bible under his hands than placing value in any of the fears of some wet-diaper crying fans wanting to pin all their hopes on this point in the recuiting process. Sheesh!
If you’re one of the criers now, my advice to you, is to start drinking heavily.
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By PootND June 8, 2011 - 4:40 pm
Armstead seems to have legit interest but yes, he is currently “verballed” to SC.
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By Brad June 8, 2011 - 4:25 pm
PootND,
I am not really all that suprised that we aren’t heavily going after a DT this year. I don’t think we have a large need for one. With the profile that Kelly is going after (big guys, 6’5 or so along the DL) I think that there are a lot of guys who may wind up playing DT by the time they are upperclassmen than we may think. For example, with their frames, it could be entirely possible for guys like Stephon Tuitt, Schwenke, etc. grow into large, large men who could play the NT as well as End. If you look at guys like Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley, they were both 6’5 250ish kinda guys in high school too.
We only have one nose spot, and right now it is likely to be handled by a rotation of Cwynar, Hafis, and LNIII. Also, LNIII is entering his FIRST year of eligibility.
Kelly seems confident that he can build a disciplined, tough kid into a NT. Look at Cwynar. He is only 280, and certainly does not fit that NT role the way LNIII does. Yet Cwynar did a pretty good job at NT, based upon his disciplined style of play. Due to this reason, I think Kelly could wind up taking some of the taller “tweener” kids who don’t really make the cut at OLB or End and beefing them up in NTs.
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By Golden Domer June 8, 2011 - 5:58 pm
We need a definitive Big 3 of QB, RB and WR. That means long shot or not, Kiel, one of the Marshalls and Beckham….then, welcome back to the big leagues.
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By SDI June 8, 2011 - 8:14 pm
I agree with Poot (and Mike Frank). With Crist, Rees, Hendrix, and Golson, ND has plenty of QBs. Ideally, you get a 4 or 5 star QB in every class, but if those type of guys aren’t interested this year, use the scholly on another position of need–where you need more than one guy at a time on the field.
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By The Biscuit June 8, 2011 - 9:11 pm
I think we need a QB. I dont see all 4 guys sticking around after this Fall once 1-2 figure out their place on the depth chart.
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By PootND June 9, 2011 - 9:42 am
1) Kiel isn’t coming
2)Taking a 3* QB just to take a QB will probably hurt QB recruiting for next year…unless you knew for sure that someone was transferring.
3)2013 is pretty strong year for QB, especially compared against this year.
4)We have other more pressing needs
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By Brad June 9, 2011 - 5:43 am
I agree with Poot, Frank, and SDI. I just don’t think its necessary to have one this year, and they shouldn’t recruit one just to have one. Even in a terrible scenario where Hendrix and, say, Rees both leave after this season, we’d still be sitting with Crist as a 5th year, and a rising Golson. That isn’t too terrible, and would require two of those guys to leave. I don’t think that will happen.
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By The Biscuit June 9, 2011 - 10:41 am
I don’t think we should take one just to have one, but I think we need one. Your worst case scenario sounds like a nightmare to me. Crust goes down and it’s 2007 again
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By Jim June 9, 2011 - 11:03 am
Durron Neal is committed to Oklahoma.
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By Joe Schulz June 18, 2011 - 4:26 pm
With the talent we already have at QB a guy would have to be either very cocky, or totally in love with ND to commit here.
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