Welcome back to the 18 Stripes Big Board for Fighting Irish football. Today we are taking along at Notre Dame’s targets at defensive end.
| Score | Name | State | Ht./Wt. | Temperature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .986 | Josh Kaindoh | MD | 6-6/255 | Mild |
| .973 | Jarez Parks | FL | 6-5/255 | Cold |
| .952 | LaBryan Ray | AL | 6-4/270 | Cold |
| .951 | Malik Herring | GA | 6-4/260 | Cold |
| .950 | Hunter Echols | CA | 6-4/230 | Warm |
| .924 | Jordan Williams | VA | 6-5/260 | Cool |
| .922 | Ryan Johnson | AL | 6-3/255 | Cold |
| .909 | MJ Webb | GA | 6-3/270 | Cold |
| .897 | Josh Paschal | MD | 6-4/255 | Mild |
| .882 | Michael Allen | GA | 6-4/240 | Cold |
| .879 | Brad Johnson | SC | 6-3/225 | Cold |
| .853 | K’Jakyre Daley | FL | 6-3/220 | Warm |
| .839 | Cortez Alston | GA | 6-3/250 | Cool |
| .834 | Christopher Whittaker | GA | 6-4/245 | Cool |
In Play
Jarez Parks recently came out with a Top 8 that did not include Notre Dame.
Let’s Do It!💯✈️ Very Grateful and Thankful for this opportunity. Love you God!🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/ubE92O0oh5
— Jarez Parks (@TheGAMEisKiLLER) July 28, 2016
Jordan Williams will be making his decision this Saturday. Clemson looks like the favorite here.
Michael Allen came out with a Top 6 a couple of weeks ago. It did not include Notre Dame.
‼️Top 6 ‼️ pic.twitter.com/LzlhbCTg2S
— Mike Allen (@bigmikeal) July 16, 2016
Nothing new out on Josh Kaindoh. Sources continue to maintain that he will likely reevaluate his decision after his season ends, just to be sure that Maryland is the right place for him.
Brad Johnson is looking hard at South Carolina and Georgia, with the Gamecocks appearing to hold the edge.
Malik Herring was at The Opening, where he got into a little scuffle with Notre Dame commit Robert Hainsey. Hainsey totally won that rep.
Welcome to the trenches. #TheOpening pic.twitter.com/538klBmktQ
— ESPNU (@ESPNU) July 9, 2016
The big news during the month of July is that Hunter Echols officially decommitted from UCLA. Upon decommitting, he almost immediately named Notre Dame his leader. The Irish are in a really good spot right now, but there might be some competition from USC, Washington, and Arizona.
LaBryan Ray also came out with a Top 6. This one also did not include the Irish.
#Blessed 🙌 pic.twitter.com/mO5mG31nrr
— LaBryan Ray (@LabryanRay) July 31, 2016
Although the recruiting sites have K’Jakyre Daley listed as a linebacker, Notre Dame is recruiting him as an edge-rushing defensive end. If Daley had made it to campus for Irish Invasion as he had planned, he’d likely already be in the IRISHEL17E. However, that didn’t work out. And he has been unable to make the trip up to South Bend so far this summer. The staff won’t let him commit without visiting first, but if he takes too long (and if things continue to trend well with Echols) he may not have a spot by the time his visit comes around. I really like his upside and I hope the Irish can find a way to fit both Echols and Daley in this class, but Daley may be forced to commit to his other top school — Oklahoma.
Ryan Johnson, like so many other blue-chip players from the state of Alabama, will most likely be making his decision between the Crimson Tide and the Auburn Tigers. No timetable yet on when he will decide.
MJ Webb took visits to Kentucky and Tennessee last month. He’s also looking hard at South Carolina and Auburn.
Josh Paschal has been really high on the Irish for a while now. Supposedly, he wants to join this Notre Dame class. The only problem is, he projects to the strong side. The Irish already have a strong side end in the fold with Jonathon MacCollister. They seem to be focusing on rush ends at this point.
Things seems to be cooling with Cortez Alston. He’d likely join Notre Dame’s class if it were up to him, but the staff doesn’t seem to be pursuing him very hard at this point in time. Aside from the Irish, he seems to like Cal.
Christopher Whittaker may actually project better to DT, if not the strong side. This is another case where the staff isn’t pursuing him very hard, so he’ll likely end up at South Carolina.
In The Fold
Jonathon MacCollister (.846) committed to Notre Dame during Irish Invasion.
ILL BE HUNTING QB’S FOR THE IRISH☘☘☘ #IRISHEL17E #LUCKYBOYZ☘ #GOIRISH pic.twitter.com/ap3cIVvzub
— JonathonMacCollister (@bigbird__54) June 17, 2016
Committed Elsewhere
Chase Young committed to Ohio State.
Robert Beal committed to Georgia.
Deonte Johnson committed to Miami.
Corey Malone-Hatcher committed to Michigan.
Jaelen Phillips committed to UCLA.
Logan Rudolph committed to Clemson.
Lashawn Paulino-Bell committed to Michigan State.
Zachary Carter committed to Florida.
AJ Epenesa committed to Iowa.
Good stuff Ty. The Echols recruitment is shaping up to be a real roller coaster ride – looks like we know what our drama-filled story line will be in this cycle. Hopefully it’ll work out better than Isaiah McKenzie and Demetris Robertson…
Is AJ Epenesa really going to Iowa? Is there any chance he pulls a Kaindoh and re-assesses after the season? Iowa is really capitalizing on last season, 2 top 100 players already. A bit of a step up from the one 4 star they have in the 5 years prior.
His father played at Iowa – the legacy connection there was always going to be tough to overcome. Our main shot came because his father played for Bob Elliott, but ultimately there was just too much local pull. I don’t think it would matter if Iowa went 0-12 and Ferentz finally got canned; Epenesa is probably going to stick with them no matter what.
Kaindoh is a different situation. His family supposedly really wants him to stay local – like to the point where people have speculated if any, ahem, grease has been applied – and his father has been hyping Maryland big time if not outright running interference against other programs. Still, the general consensus is indeed that Kaindoh is not completely sold on Maryland and could re-evaluate if they faceplant. We shall see.
Did Michael Allen’s dad play at Wake Forest? Because in his top 6, one of these things is not like the others…
Maryland’s schedule will not do them any favors with Kaindoh and solving the issue they had last year with top guys bailing after the season ends – it’s cupcake city early on (Howard, FIU, UCF, Purdue – hello 4-0!) and then they’ll probably be favored in only one of their last eight (Rutgers). They catch the likely five best teams in conference play with the MSU/Michigan/Ohio State/Penn State/Nebraska, and three of those are on the road.
I’m guessing they go 6-6 at best, which means a 2-6 finish, with 1-5 definitely in play. Michigan/Michigan State/Ohio State could be beat downs, so unless grease has actually been applied I’d bet on him bouncing this winter.
why can’t any of our old players have 5 star kids? Who has been our best legacy recruit? I have only been following ‘crootin’ since about ’12 and ND since ’01, so am much less familiar with the legacies than some. Would it be Bars?
TJ Jones’s dad Andruw played on the ’88 championship team.
Mike Golic Jr.
Are we recruiting that linebacker – I wanna say Jacob Phillips – as a rush end? If so, I would appreciate it if someone could do a little squib for him like the other recruits.
Good question.
Phillips is being recruited as a linebacker, but the staff sees him as someone as someone who can be a huge help in rushing the QB as well. So to answer your question, technically no. But he is a target because of his potential as a linebacker who can get after the QB.
We’re recruiting him as a LB who can rush the passer; Tyler or Jaden will do the actual write up, so they can confirm, but I’d imagine he’ll be on the that Big Board. I’ve seen conflicting info on Justin Foster too – that we’re pushing for him as a WDE but he wants to be a LB so he’s not interested, and that we’re pushing for him as a LB and he’s very interested. I don’t know what to make of that.
Darn Robert Beal. Watching him slide into ESPN’s top 5 and commit to UGA stung a bit.
Also, every time I look at the IRISHELI7E word/hashtag thing I just see “Irish Elve,” like “elf,” but with a “v.” Doesn’t leave a very badass impression compared to “Irish Elite.” Is this happening to anyone else?
I saw a story the other day that AZ thinks they have Echols in the bag. Not sure if it was on SB Nation or somewhere else. Obviously the writer doesn’t understand the power of the Dome side of the force.
People from Washington seem to think the same thing.