Notre Dame Recruiting: Punter McFerson highlights gameday visitors
Eric Hansen
SOUTH BEND -- The headliner Saturday among Notre Dame’s roughly 60 recruiting visitors runs the sprints, high jumps and triple jumps for his high school track team in North Carolina.
None of which may be relevant if he ends up playing football for the Irish.
Which suddenly is a distinct possibility.
A day after decommitting from Wake Forest, senior punter Bryce McFerson picked up a scholarship offer from Notre Dame on Saturday while taking an official visit for the Georgia Tech game.
The 6-foot-2, 180-pounder from Metrolina Christian Academy in Indian Trail, N.C., is ranked as the No. 1 punter nationally in the 2022 class by Chris Sailer Kicking. McFerson had been verbally committed to Wake Forest since September.
Notre Dame's current punter is junior Jay Bramblett.
Two verbally committed members of the Irish 2022 class (linebacker Jaylen Sneed and offensive guard Joey Tanona) were in town to take in AP No. 6 ND’s Senior Day matchup with Georgia Tech.
They were joined by four verbally committed members of the 2023 class — linebacker Drayk Bowen, tight end Cooper Flanagan, safety Adon Shuler and defensive end Brenan Vernon.
The only uncommitted underclassmen to visit with a Notre Dame offer coming into the weekend was 2023 four-star cornerback Christian Gray from De Smet High in St. Louis.
A couple of area football standouts were among the visitors — Mishawaka senior quarterback Justin Fisher and NorthWood junior wide receiver NiTareon Tuggle. Fisher is a possible preferred walk-on candidate.
NOTRE DAME RECRUITING VISITORS
2022 Targets
P/K Bryce McFerson
2022 Prospects
OT Tyler Douthit
QB Justin Fisher
WR Jason Harris
OL Sam Secrest
LB Dominic Zeno
2022 Commits
LB Jaylen Sneed
OG Joey Tanona
2023 Targets
CB Christian Gray
2023 Prospects
S Johnsley Barbas
TE Jack Donnelly
OG Cole Evans
LB Anthony Famularo Jr.
DL Kobi Gorman
WR Jackson Green
ATH Misun Kelley
ATH Kollin Lewis
DT Taahleak Lewis
LB Aava Lilomaiava
WR TJ McWilliams
QB Ben Monahan
OT Joe Otting
LB Ronan Poynton
DE William Robinson
DL Jeremiah Sandiford
OG Dylan Senda
ATH Justin Taylor
OG Derek Thompson
WR Jacob Thompson
DE Teitum Tuioti
DL Austin Watt
OT Hayden Woodruff
2023 Commits
LB Drayk Bowen
TE Cooper Flanagan
S Adon Shuler
DE Brenan Vernon
2024 Prospects
S KeKe Adams
QB Jayden Bradford
OT Andrew Dennis
QB Will Evans
WR Debron Gatling
WR Mylan Graham
TE Luke Harpring
RB Donovan Holloway
WR Brauntae Johnson
WR Dylan Karz
S Jaden Ratliff
OT Ben Roebuck
RB Jayden Scott
DL Justin Scott
QB Xavier Southall
WR NiTareon Tuggle
DE Owen Wafle
QB Cole Welliver
S Turran Williams
2025 Prospects
QB Mikey Gow
QB Colton Gumino
TE Gabe Kaminski
LB Donovan Kolbe
Follow NDInsider Eric Hansen on Twitter: @ehansenNDI