Notre Dame football gets back to playing host following dead period
With the dead period ending Tuesday night, Notre Dame’s football program won’t waste much time playing host once again for recruits.
The first visitor of the quiet period is scheduled to arrive Wednesday: 2020 offensive lineman Geirean Hatchett.
The 6-foot-5, 275-pound product of Ferndale (Wash.) High received a Notre Dame offer in March. Hatchett, a four-star recruit, has already collected offers from the likes of Washington, Stanford, Ohio State and Oklahoma.
247Sports slates Hatchett as the No. 6 offensive guard in the 2020 class. Rivals ranks him No. 9 at the position.
During a quiet period, coaches can host recruits on campus, but they cannot visit recruits off campus. A dead period will start again on Aug. 1 and run until 48 hours before Notre Dame’s season opener against Michigan on Sept. 1.
Official visits for 2019 recruits are prohibited until the first weekend of the season.
New rankings
The summer months offer recruiting analysts a chance reexamine their projections for the 2019 class. Both Tom Lemming and ESPN released their latest rankings earlier this month.
Lemming, a CBS Sports Network recruiting analyst, released his top 100 for the 2019 class ahead of publishing his annual Prep Football Report. Four Notre Dame commits landed in the top 100: offensive tackle Quinn Carroll (No. 37), defensive end NaNa Osafo-Mensah (No. 80), offensive guard Zeke Correll (No. 83) and offensive tackle John Olmstead (No. 90).
ESPN released its updated top 300 for the 2019 class. Nine Notre Dame commits made the list with nose guard Jacob Lacey receiving the highest ranking. As the No. 13 defensive tackle, Lacey was pegged at No. 118 overall.
The list also included Osafo-Mensah (No. 161 overall, No. 17 DE), linebacker Osita Ekwonu (No. 172, No. 15 OLB), Carroll (No. 176, No. 19 OT), Correll (No. 177, No. 6 OG), cornerback K.J. Wallace (No. 222, No. 18 CB), Olmstead (No. 244, No. 26 OT), safety Litchfield Ajavon (No. 271, No. 15 S), and defensive tackle Hunter Spears (No. 273, No. 33 DE).
ESPN ranks Notre Dame’s class of 17 commits, which includes 13 four-star recruits, at No. 6 nationally behind Alabama, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Michigan and Ohio State. Rivals ranks the Irish at No. 5, and the 247Sports slates them at No. 7.
LB target updates
The Irish have already received two commitments from linebackers in the 2019 class — four-star recruit Osita Ewkonu and three-star recruit Jack Kiser — but defensive coordinator Clark Lea has been actively pursuing other targets trying to add a third in the class. Two linebacker recruits with Notre Dame offers recently committed elsewhere.
On July 13, Asa Turner announced a verbal commitment to Washington. The 6-foot-4, 201-pound product of Carlsbad (Calif.) High previously made an official visit to Notre Dame in June.
247Sports slates Turner as a four-star recruit and the No. 18 athlete. Rivals rates him as a three-star recruit and the No. 36 athlete.
Turner became the 12th recruit to announce a commitment to a school since making an early official visit with the Irish in the 2019 class. Six of those recruits have committed to Notre Dame, six more have committed elsewhere.
Linebacker Tristan Sinclair and defensive end Aeneas DiCosmo are the only two Notre Dame official visitors to not yet announce a commitment. Sinclair, a 6-foot-2, 199-pound senior at Danville (Calif.) San Ramon Valley, plans to share his decision on Aug. 1. Either Stanford, Notre Dame, Cal or USC will likely receive his pledge.
247Sports slates Sinclair as a four-star recruit and the No. 4 athlete in the class. Rivals rates him as a three-star recruit and the No. 27 outside linebacker.
Linebacker Nick Henrich, who made an unofficial visit to Notre Dame in April, announced his verbal commitment to Nebraska on Saturday. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound product of Omaha (Neb.) Burke decided to stay home for college.
247Sports slates Henrich as a four-star recruit and the No. 4 inside linebacker. Rivals rates him as a three-star recruit and the No. 20 outside linebacker.
