Notre Dame football recruiting: Holmes getting to know ND
A fourth visit to Notre Dame has Corey Holmes seriously considering the Irish.
With each trip to South Bend, the 2014 wide receiver prospect has seta specific part of the school to learn about. On his visit in April,Holmes set out to take in the school's campus and student life. Whenhe visits on Friday, Holmes hopes to get to know the people better.
"This time around," Holmes said, "I just want to be around more of theguys who are involved with the program -- more football players andsome of the guys that I've been talking to that have committed in thisclass."
The 6-foot-2, 175-pound prospect from St. Thomas Aquinas High in FortLauderdale, Fla., identified four guys that he's had conversationswith that he's looking forward to getting to know better -- freshmenGreg Bryant and Michael Deeb, both fellow Florida products, andcommitted recruits Elijah Hood and Quenton Nelson.
Bryant and Deeb are finishing their first week of the summer sessionat Notre Dame, and both Hood and Nelson will be visiting campus forthe weekend, helping the Irish coaching staff recruit during theFuture Stars Camp, its biggest weekend of the summer.
The Irish continue to search for wide receiver prospects to joinSpeedway's Justin Brent in the 2014 class, and Holmes might be themost likely of the targets remaining on the board.
247Sports.com national recruiting writer Steve Wiltfong submittedNotre Dame as his prediction for Holmes for the recruiting website'sCrystal Ball feature last month. His prediction hasn't changed asHolmes has set up visits for the rest of the summer.
"I think Notre Dame leads for Corey," Wiltfong said. "That will beanother visit where they could maybe even land him if everything goesgreat."
Holmes isn't talking commitment publicly, though, and has scheduled tovisit UCLA, Tennessee and Vanderbilt later this summer. Right now,Holmes said he plans to identify a list of schools that he'llofficially visit after his summer trips.
Playing in a run-first offense at Aquinas, Holmes caught 28 passes for511 yards and five touchdowns as a junior. He's ranked as a four-starprospect and the No. 31 wide receiver by both 247Sports andRivals.com.
Through his travels to programs across the country, Holmes hasidentified a key factor that will separate the schools from eachother: how genuine he feels the coaches are.
"A big thing in my decision will be about coaches and how they careabout their players," Holmes said. "In all these visits that I'mtaking, I hope to be able to talk to the receivers coach one-on-oneand hopefully the head coach one-on-one and see what type of guys theyare."
The Irish have a solid start in that department. Holmes said he talksto recruiting coordinator Tony Alford more frequently than the rest ofthe staff, but has also spoken with wide receivers coach MikeDenbrock, tight ends coach Scott Booker and offensive coordinatorChuck Martin. He even spoke with head coach Brian Kelly earlier thismonth.
Now Notre Dame will have a chance to further separate itself on visit No. 4.
"I wouldn't say they're even at the top with the other couple schoolsthat I'm really considering," Holmes said. "They're at the top."
Staff writer Tyler James:
tjames1@sbtinfo.com
