Welcome back to the latest edition of the 2020 Football Recruiting Big Board! Since Brendan’s last offensive big board update, the Irish added another OL to their 2020 class with the commitment of Michael Carmody.

Additionally, the Irish added two 2021 commitments in DT Gabriel Rubio and OL Blake Fisher.

Finally, since the last defensive big board update, the Irish gained the commitment of 2020 CB Clarence Lewis.

Let’s begin!

Position 247C First Name Last Name Temp Hometown State
CB 0.9960 Kelee Ringo Cold Scottsdale AZ
CB 0.9750 Clark Phillips Cool La Habra CA
CB 0.9513 Enzo Jennings Cool Oak Park MI
CB 0.9220 Jahari Rogers Cold Arlington TX
CB 0.9314 Ethan Pouncey Cold Winter Park FL
CB 0.8884 Cameron Martinez Mild Muskegon MI
CB 0.8738 William Nixon Cool Waco TX
CB 0.8678 Caleb Offord Warm Southaven MS
CB 0.8566 Landen Bartleson Mild+ Danville KY
CB 0.8499 Ramon Henderson Cool Bakersfield CA
DT 0.9464 Darrion Henry Cold Cincinnati OH
DT 0.9380 Jacolbe Cowan Cold Charlotte NC
DT 0.9346 Kedrick Bingley-Jones Cold Charlotte NC
DT 0.9144 Coziah Izzard Cold Hyattsville MD
ILB 0.9986 Justin Flowe Cold Upland CA
OLB 0.9979 Sav’ell Smalls Cold Burien WA
OLB 0.9781 Phillip Webb Cold Buford GA
OLB 0.9479 Prince Dorbah Cold Dallas TX
OLB 0.9374 Cody Simon Mild Jersey City NJ
OLB 0.9075 Jaheim Thomas Cold Cincinnati OH
S 0.9625 Lathan Ransom Mild Tucson AZ
S 0.9433 Chris Thompson Cold Duncanville TX
S 0.9368 Jordan Morant Cold Oradell NJ
S 0.9243 Jerrin Thompson Mild Lufkin TX
S 0.9233 Eric Reed Cold Shreveport LA
S 0.9194 Kristian Story Cold Lanett AL
S 0.9160 Makari Paige Cold West Bloomfield MI
S 0.9022 Malcolm Greene Mild Highland Springs VA
S 0.8937 RJ Moten Cool Delran NJ
S 0.8839 Mordecai McDaniel Cold Washington DC
S 0.8678 Elijah Gaines Cool Alexandria VA
S 0.8958 Christian Gonzalez Mild The Colony TX
S 0.8627 Ricky Hyatt Cold Westerville OH
S 0.8366 Jordan Addison Mild Frederick MD
SDE 0.9471 Jay Hardy Cold Chattanooga TN
SDE 0.9466 Myles Murphy Cold Greensboro NC
SDE 0.9459 Tyler Baron Cold Knoxville TN
SDE 0.9223 Alfred Collins Cold Bastrop TX
SDE 0.9073 Xavier Carlton Cold Draper UT
SDE 0.8688 Deontae Craig Cold Culver IN
WDE 0.9944 Arik Gilbert Cold Marietta GA
WDE 0.9775 Noah Sewell Cold Orem UT
WDE 0.9583 Chantz Williams Cold Orange Park FL
WDE 0.9407 Antwuan Powell Cold Portsmouth VA
WDE 0.9086 DJ Rogers Cold Sammamish WA
WDE 0.8884 Eric Shaw Cold Notasulga AL
WDE 0.8789 Ben Yurosek Cold Bakersfield CA
WDE 0.8739 Cam Large Cold Dedham MA
WDE 0.8668 Mitchell Melton Mild Olney MD
WDE 0.8627 Jalen Logan-Redding Cold Columbia MO
WDE 0.8466 Jared Ivey Cold Suwanee GA

Cornerback

Commits: Clarence Lewis (.8647)

Slots: 2-3

To begin, the Irish unfortunately missed out on Clark Phillips (0.9750), their top CB target. It’s a fairly disappointing miss as he was the last remaining big-time prospect on the board. Unless another big name pops up in the future, Todd Lyght and the staff will have to rely on recruiting some lesser ranked athletes who they can develop with time.

As mentioned, Clarence Lewis (0.8647) committed on June 10th to get the ball rolling in the secondary. He is an athletic, long corner who has the chance to develop into a really good one.

Caleb Offord (0.8678) is a new offer out of Southaven, MS. At 6’1, he is another lengthy option at CB and is a strong academic student. His offer list isn’t extremely strong with Arkansas, Duke, Purdue, and Kentucky being other main schools. However, the ND staff has evaluated him and is comfortable taking him if he’s ready to pop. Offord will officially visit the Irish this weekend and plans to make his commitment on July 4th. It is quite likely that Offord will be the next commitment for the Fighting Irish.

Will Nixon (0.8738) is another recruit who will be officially visiting this weekend. Notre Dame is one of the only schools recruiting the Texas native as a cornerback, but he is more than open to the idea of it. Although he’s on the smaller end, Nixon is a superb athlete, and it will be interesting to see where he stands with the Irish following the weekend.

Landon Bartleson (0.8566) will also be officially visiting on this busy weekend in South Bend. Although ND has perceivably led in his recruitment, the coaching staff may choose to slow play him for the foreseeable future.

Offensive target Xavier Watts (0.8728) from Omaha, NE also has the potential to play CB and could very likely be a part of ND’s class by the end of summer.

Lovie Jenkins (0.8656) was removed from the board as the Irish staff decided to move in a different direction with the aforementioned group, and he quickly committed to Tennessee on June 12th.

Ethan Pouncey (0.9314) has also eliminated Notre Dame from his list of teams. He is considering Alabama, Auburn, Florida, LSU, and Texas.

Safety

Commits: None

Slots 2-3

Lathan Ransom (0.9625) took his official visit to Notre Dame on June 8th and had glowing things to say afterwards. With that being said, he visited Texas last weekend and will visit Ohio State this weekend. Some reports have indicated Notre Dame has a real chance, but I would be extremely surprised if the Irish were able to pull it off.

Christian Gonzalez (0.8958) officially visits this weekend and is an intriguing prospect for the Irish. Since his Notre Dame offer in February, he has added offers from Alabama, Ohio State, Miami, Michigan State, Arizona State, and Ole Miss amongst others. Gonzalez is a kid who could play either S or CB, which makes his official visit slightly more important.

Jerrin Thompson (0.9243), Malcolm Greene (.9022), and RJ Moten (0.8937) are other prospects that the Irish staff are hoping to gain traction with.

Alaka’i Gilman (0.8566), brother of Alohi, recently camped at Irish Invasion and performed well, but is still awaiting an offer. At this point, the coaching staff will likely wait and see with some other prospects before offering, but Gilman is a guy to keep an eye on moving forward.

Eric Reed (0.9233) committed to Ole Miss on June 18th.

Jordan Morant (0.9368) trimmed down his list of schools and is no longer considering Notre Dame.

Defensive Tackle

Commits: Aidan Keanaaina (.8871)

Slots: 1

Keanaaina remains a massive (literally and figuratively) fit as a future DT, and the Irish are finished at the position with Rylie Mills being a likely candidate to move to 3-Tech, as well.

Defensive End

Commits: Jordan Botelho (.9471), Rylie Mills (.9412), Alexander Ehrensberger (.8413)

Slots: 3-4

With three commits already, the ND staff is looking to add one final piece to the defensive line, and Mitchell Melton (0.8668) is at the very top of the board. It will be a three team race for his services as he has officially visited Notre Dame, Ohio State, and visits Michigan this weekend. Melton is scheduled to announce his commitment on July 3rd. Although it’s up in the air, ND feels decent about their chances, but so do Ohio State and Michigan.

If things fall through with Melton, Phillip Webb (0.9781) is a name to keep tabs on as he included Notre Dame in his Top 11. He could potentially visit sometime in the fall.

Cam Large (0.8739), a former target, recently trimmed down his list of schools to Wisconsin, Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio State.

Ben Yurosek (0.8789) is another former target who has his list down to Stanford, UCLA, and Washington. He hopes to commit by the end of June, and Stanford is the most likely destination.

Linebacker

Commits: None

Slots: 0-1

As has been the case, Cody Simon (0.9374) remains the lone potential target for the time being. It is unclear if the staff will push for him or continue to slow play the recruitment, and it may be contingent on Mitchell Melton’s decision.

Finally, Notre Dame has mutually parted ways with defensive athlete Cullen Coleman (0.8728). The Irish led in his recruitment, but they have decided to move in a different direction defensively, primarily in pursuit of Melton. He will officially visit Northwestern this weekend rather than Notre Dame.

Recap

Overall, ND is in the midst of a great recruiting run, especially with the flurry of commits last week. The defensive line is looking to add one more pass rusher, but they already have a solidified group with a lot of expected talent. At linebacker, the coaching staff will have to decide whether they want to push for Simon, but it’s simply not a huge position need after the 2019 cycle. As evident, the defensive back position is by far the biggest question mark moving forward. With Lewis committed, the staff will likely want to add four more guys before it’s all said and done. I think Offord is a good bet to join the class soon, but who will the staff take beyond that? Will they choose to slow play Bartleson or Nixon and hope to catch a bigger fish down the line? We should know more by the end of the weekend, but in the meantime, let’s enjoy this exciting run and hope for continued prosperity in our recruiting world!