Notre Dame football recruiting notebook: Folston remains an Irish commit

Tarean Folston visited Auburn this past weekend, but the seniorrunning back remains committed to Notre Dame.

John Wilkinson, head coach at Cocoa (Fla.) High, said Folston's visitto Auburn was "a last-second deal."

"Ever since coach (Gus) Malzahn got the job they've been on him,talking to him, and coming by the school," Wilkinson said. "CoachMalzahn came by the school. (Auburn wide receivers) coach (Dameyune)Craig has been on him since they got hired."

Craig was previously the recruiting coordinator at Florida State,where he had built a relationship with Folston while recruiting himfor the Seminoles. Wilkinson said Auburn and Florida State are theprimary schools that are still recruiting Folston, despite verballycommitting to the Irish earlier this month.

Notre Dame recruiting coordinator Tony Alford stopped by Cocoa earlierthis week and Wilkinson said he and Folston are on the same page.

"He's still committed to Notre Dame," Wilkinson said.

Folston can seal his commitment on Feb. 6 by signing a national letterof intent.

"I think he went (to Auburn) to just look," Wilkinson said. "It reallyreaffirmed his decision."

Larue off visitors list

Wide receiver Sebastian Larue had been targeting an official visit toNotre Dame on Jan. 25, but the visit will not happen.

Larue, a 5-foot-11, 185-pound former USC commit, said after talkingwith the coaching staff this week, he realized their wasn't a mutualinterest.

"Me and the coaches both agreed that I wasn't serious about Notre Dameas a realistic possibility," Larue said in a text message.

Larue visited Texas A&M last weekend, but said he's not sharing whatschools he's currently focusing on now that his opportunity with theIrish has passed.

The Irish are set to host four official visitors this weekend, barringany last-minute changes: Defensive tackle Eddie Vanderdoes, defensiveend Kylie Fitts, linebacker Deon Hollins Jr., and tight end DurhamSmythe.

Commits in the rankings

Both Rivals.com and 247Sports.com recently released their final playerrankings of the 2013 recruiting class.

Folston and wide receiver Will Fuller received the biggest bump intheir rankings on Rivals. Folston jumped 64 spots in the rankings toNo. 119 overall in the country. Fuller moved 57 sports up to No. 176.Cornerback Cole Luke and wide receiver Torii Hunter Jr. made thebiggest drops. Luke fell 38 spots and out of the Rivals 100 to No.133. After his broken femur suffered at the U.S. Army All-AmericanBowl, Hunter dropped from No. 181 to outside the Top 250.

On 247Sports, offensive lineman Steve Elmer and cornerback DevinButler received boosts in their rankings. Elmer jumped from No. 226overall to No. 136, and Butler rose from outside the Top247 rankingsto No. 189. Hunter Jr. dropped out of the Top247 after his injury.

Staff writer Tyler James:

tjames1@sbtinfo.com