Denison's Price commits to Notre Dame

Jadarian Price’s decision will have Denison waking up the echoes as it cheers, cheers for Old Notre Dame.

The Yellow Jacket senior running back announced his decision to play for the Fighting Irish on social media.

“Notre Dame is an outstanding university with the best of both worlds. I trust that I will have the chance to showcase my skills with a winning program who usually performs in front of the biggest stage in the college football playoffs,” Price said. “And then there’s the academic part where I get an education of a lifetime, where my Notre Dame degree will catch the eyes of anyone I hope to show interest in me in the future.”

Notre Dame made the College Football Playoff this past season as the No. 4 seed and finished 10-2 with a loss against eventual champ Alabama in the semifinals. The Irish were fifth in the final Associated Press Top 25 rankings.

The program played in the ACC in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic but will go back to being an independent without any conference affiliation this coming season. Of note would be a scheduled trip to Texas A&M to open the 2024 season.

Verbal commitments are non-binding. There are two signing periods Price will have to lock in his choice — the early one on December 15 and the regular one on February 2.

Price released a top eight of Texas, Oklahoma State, Baylor, TCU, Ohio State, USC, Stanford and Minnesota on Christmas Day. The Irish had not turned up their recruitment at that point and extended an offer in late January.

“It was quite difficult considering all the amazing opportunities I had sitting in front of me. It was all unreal and sometimes stressful but I chose the one which made me feel comfortable in many aspects,” Price said. “When they offered, the media hit hard and it encouraged me to look into Notre Dame further than I had with any other school. So they eventually became one of my top choices immediately.”

Price was slated to visit the South Bend campus this past week but the bad weather forced him to reschedule.

“I was planning on waiting until the summer but I knew I was not the only one being recruited by all these schools so there is only so many chances and spots at a full ride scholarship at any university,” Price said. “The circumstances I am facing with COVID and the release of the dead period to where I can’t take the official college visits as easy as I’d like have forced me to come to an early decision.”

There were a host of other schools that offered Price since he burst onto the scene as a freshman starter, including Arizona State, Auburn, Missouri, Houston, SMU, Texas Tech, Utah and Virginia Tech.

He had 1,145 yards and 19 touchdowns on 174 carries this past year and was a first-team all-district selection as Denison went 7-4 and made the playoffs for the first time in three years after missing on a tie-breaker the previous two seasons.

Price enters his senior year sitting fourth on the school’s all-time rushing list with 3,297 yards on 525 carries and tied for seventh in rushing touchdowns at 36.

Only D.J. Jones (5,537), Corey Robertson (5,218) and Chris Robertson (4,504) have more yards.

To get into the top five for rushing touchdowns, Price needs seven in his final season to pass current Jacket assistant Stanley Morrison. To make it into the top three would require 28 to surpass Chris Robertson.

Price joined Jones, the Robertson brothers, Morrison and teammate Asa Osbourn as the only Yellow Jackets with multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons and if he does it as a senior, he would join Corey Robertson as the only ones to accomplish that milestone three times.

His 39 total touchdowns, plus a two-point conversion, have him eighth on the Denison all-time scoring list at 236 points. He would need 96 points — 16 touchdowns — to break into the top five.

He is ranked as the 225th player, the 21st running back in the country and the 31st-best player in Texas for the Class of 2022 by 247Sports.

Among Lone Star State running backs he is ranked fourth, behind Klein Cain’s Jaydon Blue, who has committed to Texas, Tyler Legacy’s Jamarion Miller and El Paso Burges’ Tavorus Jones.

During his sophomore season, Price finished with 151 carries for 732 yards and three touchdowns and was a first-team all-district selection in 7-5A (II) despite missing the equivalent of three games due to an ankle injury.

As a freshman he ran for 1,421 yards and 16 touchdowns on 210 carries, setting school marks for a ninth-grader, and was the 7-5A (II) Offensive Newcomer of the Year. His yardage total was the 16th-best for a season in school history.