Notebook: Who are the big recruits Notre Dame's coaches visited this evaluation period?
Notre Dame concluded spring football with the 90th annual Blue-Gold Game on April 13.
Two days later and it was back to the recruiting trail for the Irish coaching staff. The evaluation period began April 15 and runs through May 31. Division I football coaches are permitted to visit schools and watch recruits play, practice and work out.
Prolonged face-to-face conversations between coaches and recruits remain prohibited during the evaluation period. However, coaches can give recruits phone calls following their visits.
Coaches learn more about recruits on these trips, particularly when it comes to academics and seeing them in person. As a result, programs extend a healthy amount of offers during this time.
Offensive coordinator Chip Long, defensive coordinator Clark Lea, offensive line coach Jeff Quinn, wide receiver coach DelVaughn Alexander, running backs coach Lance Taylor, quarterbacks coach Tommy Rees, defensive line coach Mike Elston, cornerbacks coach Todd Lyght, safeties coach Terry Joseph and special teams coach Brian Polian were on the recruiting trail over the past few weeks.
Nearing the halfway point of this evaluation period, ND Insider takes a look at the most important school visits that took place. The following players have all received Notre Dame offers unless listed as a prospect.
First week
Tuesday, April 16
• 2020 RB Chris Tyree, Chester (Va.) Thomas Dale — Visited by Taylor
247Sports: Four stars, No. 1 APB, No. 51 overall | Rivals: Four stars, No. 1 APB, No. 60 overall
• 2020 DT/DE Rylie Mills, Lake Forest (Ill.) High — Elston, Rees
247Sports: Four stars, No. 8 SDE, No. 170 overall | Rivals: Four stars, No. 10 SDE, No. 155 overall
• 2020 DT commit Aidan Keanaaina, Denver Mullen — Rees
247Sports: Three stars, No. 40 DT, No. 464 overall | Rivals: Four stars, No. 19 DT
• 2020 LS commit Alex Peitsch, Washington (D.C.) St. John’s College High — Polian
247Sports: Two stars, No. 1 LS, No. 2,022 overall | Jamie Kohl’s Kicking Camps: No. 1 LS
Wednesday, April 17
• 2020 RB DeaMonte Trayanum, Akron (Ohio) Archbishop Hoban — Long
247Sports: Four stars, No. 18 RB, No. 222 overall | Rivals: Three stars, No. 36 ATH
• 2020 RB JuTahn McClain, Fairfield (Ohio) High — Long
247Sports: Four stars, No. 6 APB, No. 303 overall | Rivals: Three stars, No. 10 APG
• 2020 TE commit Michael Mayer, Park Hills (Ky.) Covington Catholic — Long
247Sports: Four stars, No. 1 TE, No. 123 overall | Rivals: Four stars, No. 3 TE, No. 126 overall
Thursday, April 18
• 2020 CB Landen Bartleson, Danville (Ky.) Boyle County — Visited by Lyght
247Sports: Three stars, No. 37 RB, No. 455 overall | Rivals: Three stars
• 2020 DE commit Jordan Botelho, Honolulu St. Louis — Elston
247Sports: Four stars, No. 2 ILB, No. 35 overall | Rivals: Four stars, No. 24 OLB
More: The Irish staff began the evaluation period with a heavy dose of running back visits. Notre Dame seeks a power back and speed back for its 2020 class. The Irish covet Tyree more than maybe anyone on their recruiting board. Taylor’s trip helped slow Tyree’s recruitment following his April 12-14 official visit at Oklahoma and keep the Irish in the running.
• Elston saw Mills following his April 12-14 official visit to Wisconsin. Mills later took an April 26-28 official visit to Ohio State. He considers Wisconsin, Ohio State and Notre Dame as his top three schools and plans to announce a commitment Monday at 7 p.m. EDT. Elston envisions Mills as a defensive tackle and big end.
• Polian offered Peitsch after watching him practice. Peitsch committed to the Irish six days later on April 24. Botelho made his verbal commitment public after Elston’s April 18 visit.
• Bartleson received a visit after ND’s tough start to the month for cornerback recruiting. Three of ND’s top cornerback targets — Ryan Watts, Jalen Kimber and Dontae Manning — committed elsewhere in April.
Second week
Monday, April 22
• 2020 DE Braiden McGregor, Port Huron (Mich.) Northern — Visited by Elston
247Sports: Four stars, No. 3 SDE, No. 27 overall | Rivals: Three stars, No. 27 OLB
Tuesday, April 23
• 2020 CB prospect Jahdae Barron, Austin (Texas) Pflugerville Connally — Polian
247Sports: Three stars, No. 61 CB, No. 793 overall | Rivals: N/A
• 2021 LB Barrett Carter, Suwanee (Ga.) North Gwinnett — Elston
247Sports: Four stars, No. 37 OLB, No. 210 overall | Rivals: N/A
Wednesday, April 24
• 2020 CB Lovie Jenkins, Ocoee (Fla.) High — Joseph
247Sports: Three stars, No. 86 CB, No. 1,087 overall | Rivals: Three stars
• 2021 RB Donovan Edwards, West Bloomfield (Mich.) High — Joseph
247Sports: Four stars, No. 4 RB, No. 60 overall | Rivals: N/A
• 2021 S Walter Clayton Jr., Lake Wales (Fla.) High — Joseph
247Sports: N/A | Rivals: N/A
More: Defensive linemen Alexander Ehrensberger, Jordan Botelho and Aidan Keanaaina are committed to ND’s 2020 class. The top two defensive linemen targets remaining for the Irish are McGregor and Mills. McGregor has yet to announce a timeline for a commitment.
• Barron decommitted from TCU the day before Polian visited his school. The Irish are evaluating a handful of 2020 cornerbacks. Jenkins scheduled his June 21-23 official following Joseph’s visit. Jenkins told the Tribune that Notre Dame ranks as his No. 1 school.
Third week
Monday, April 29
• 2020 CB prospect Collin Gamble, Argyle (Texas) Liberty Christian — Visited by Polian, Lea
247Sports: Three stars, No. 83 CB, No. 1,056 overall | Rivals: Two stars
• 2021 TE Cane Berrong, Hartwell (Ga.) Hart County — Long
247Sports: Four stars, No. 1 TE, No. 59 overall | Rivals: N/A
• 2021 RB Will Shipley, Matthews (N.C.) Weddington — Taylor
247Sports: Four stars, No. 1 APB, No. 44 overall | Rivals: N/A
Tuesday, April 30
• 2020 S Chris Thompson Jr., Duncanville (Texas) High — Polian, Lea
247Sports: Four stars, No. 14 S, No. 157 overall | Rivals: Four stars, No. 3 S, No. 48 overall
• 2020 OL prospect Jacob Lugg, Wexford (Pa.) North Allegheny — Quinn
247Sports: Three stars, No. 64 OT, No. 748 overall | Rivals: Three stars
• 2020 WR commit Jordan Johnson, St. Louis DeSmet — Rees
247Sports: Four stars, No. 10 WR, No. 57 overall | Rivals: Four stars, No. 13 WR, No. 59 overall
• 2021 CB Jakailin Johnson, St. Louis DeSmet — Rees
247Sports: Four stars, No. 5 CB, No. 82 overall | Rivals: N/A
• 2021 ATH Emeka Egbuka, Steilacoom (Wash.) High — Alexander
247Sports: Four stars, No. 1 ATH, No. 13 overall | Rivals: N/A
• 2021 OL Nolan Rucci, Lititz (Pa.) Warwick — Elston
247Sports: Four stars, No. 6 OT, No. 30 overall | Rivals: N/A
Wednesday, May 1
• 2020 LB Cody Simon, Jersey City (N.J.) St. Peter’s Prep — Elston
247Sports: Four stars, No. 17 OLB, No. 175 overall | Rivals: Four stars: No. 9 ILB
• 2020 RB Cullen Coleman, Rye (N.Y.) Country Day School — Elston
247Sports: Three stars, No. 30 OLB, No. 395 overall | Rivals: Three stars
• 2020 ATH Clarence Lewis, Middletown (N.J.) Mater Dei — Elston
247Sports: Three stars, No. 136 WR, No. 763 overall | Rivals: Three stars
• 2020 WR Daniel Jackson, Mission (Kan.) Bishop Miege — Rees
247Sports: Four stars, No. 57 WR, No. 334 overall | Rivals: Three stars, No. 71 WR
• 2020 TE commit Kevin Bauman, Red Bank (N.J.) Catholic — Elston
247Sports: Four stars, No. 8 TE, No. 315 overall | Rivals: Four stars, No. 2 TE, No. 111 overall
• 2021 DE George Rooks, Jersey City (N.J.) St. Peter’s Prep — Elston
247Sports: N/A | Rivals: N/A
• 2021 LB Chaz Chambliss, Carrollton (Ga.) High — Joseph
247Sports: Four stars, No. 15 OLB, No. 249 overall | Rivals: N/A
• 2021 S David Daniel, Woodstock (Ga.) High — Joseph
247Sports: Four stars, No. 8 ATH, No. 64 overall | Rivals: N/A
• 2021 ATH TreVeyon Henderson, Hopewell (Va.) High — Lyght
247Sports: Four stars, No. 21 ATH, No. 219 overall | Rivals: N/A
Thursday, May 2
• 2020 DT/DE Rylie Mills, Lake Forest (Ill.) High — Elston
247Sports: Four stars, No. 8 SDE, No. 170 overall | Rivals: Four stars, No. 10 SDE, No. 155 overall
• 2020 S Jordan Morant, Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic — Lea
247Sports: Four stars, No. 1 S, No. 45 overall | Rivals: Four stars, No. 17 S
• 2020 WR Jalen McMillan, Fresno (Calif.) San Joaquin Memorial — Alexander
247Sports: Four stars, No. 1 WR, No. 30 overall | Rivals: Four stars, No. 15 WR, No. 73 overall
• 2020 RB Kyle Edwards, Destrehan (La.) High — Joseph
247Sports: Three stars, No. 32 RB, No. 426 overall | Rivals: Three stars, No. 24 RB
• 2020 ATH Cameron Martinez, Muskegon (Mich.) High — Lyght
247Sports: Four stars, No. 16 ATH, No. 291 overall | Rivals: Three stars, No. 29 ATH
• 2021 OL Tommy Brockermeyer, Fort Worth (Texas) All Saints Episcopal — Polian
247Sports: Five stars, No. 1 OT, No. 3 overall | Rivals: N/A
Friday, May 3
• 2020 WR Michael Redding III, Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy — Long, Taylor
247Sports: Three stars, No. 70 WR, No. 385 overall | Rivals: Four stars, No. 7 WR, No. 41 overall
• 2021 OL commit Greg Crippen, Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy — Long, Taylor
247Sports: Four stars, No. 17 OG, No. 233 overall | Rivals: N/A
More: A few 2021 recruits that received visits are expected to come to Notre Dame next month. Berrong will trek to South Bend on either June 2 or the following weekend. Tommy Brockermeyer and his twin brother, James (another offensive lineman) will visit in mid-June.
• The Irish visited most of their 2020 and 2021 commits over the last few weeks. They also saw a handful of the recruits expected to take a June 21-23 official visit at Notre Dame. That’s shaping up to be the biggest recruiting weekend of the year so far for the Irish.
• Shipley could be the Chris Tyree of the 2021 class. He draws comparisons to Taylor’s former player at Stanford and with the Carolina Panthers — running back Christian McCaffrey. 247Sports slates Shipley as its No. 1 all-purpose back. He has not been to South Bend.
• Chester (Va.) Thomas Dale expects Taylor to swing by for Tyree on Monday, May 6.
Offer spree: The Irish coaching staff offered several recruits following their school visits.
Click on the following players to view their offer reports: 2020 ATH Clarence Lewis, 2020 ATH Cameron Martinez, 2021 ATH TreVeyon Henderson, 2021 RB Will Shipley, 2021 S Walter Clayton Jr. and 2021 LB Barrett Carter.
