Welcome back to the 18 Stripes Big Board for Fighting Irish football. Today we are taking a look at Notre Dame’s targets at cornerback.
| Score | Name | State | Ht./Wt. | Temperature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .995 | Jeffrey Okudah | TX | 6-1/190 | Cold |
| .992 | Darnay Holmes | CA | 5-10/190 | Cold |
| .971 | Thomas Graham | CA | 5-11/175 | Warm |
| .951 | Ambry Thomas | MI | 5-11/175 | Cold |
| .903 | Elijah Gates | CA | 5-10/170 | Cool |
| .896 | Latavious Brini | FL | 6-2/200 | Cold |
| .890 | Yusuf Corker | GA | 6-0/185 | Cold |
| .870 | Ameer Speed | FL | 6-3/195 | Cold |
In the Fold
The Irish currently have two commits in the 2017 class who project to corner in college. Mansfield (Texas) athlete Paulson Adebo (.916) committed to Notre Dame back in June. Some have been concerned lately about the solidity of his commitment, but he remains adamant that he will sign with Notre Dame and that he doesn’t plan on taking officials anywhere else. La Mirada (California) defensive back Elijah Hicks (.888) is ND’s newest commit, making his announcement shortly after the Stanford game. Hicks has some position flexibility as he could play corner, nickel, or even safety at the next level.
In Play
Ohio State looks like it will continue its 2017 recruiting tear as Jeffrey Okudah has been trending hard to the Buckeyes for a while now. This isn’t a lock quite yet, but Urban and Co. have to be feeling pretty good about this one. Okudah has already taken OVs to Oklahoma, Georgia, and Florida State. Right now it’s unclear where he will take his last two visits.
Darnay Holmes will be taking an official visit to Ohio State this weekend. The Buckeyes would love to have him in their class, but right now it looks like he’s trending elsewhere to UCLA. Nebraska has also made their move on him and also sits in his top group along with teams like Washington and Michigan.
Here we get to the big news of this Big Board update. There is a bit of news that’s been swirling around social media and some of the message boards that the Irish have a silent commit in the fold right now. Now this rumor hasn’t been confirmed, but it has been brought up as a possibility by some of the recruiting experts out there. I guess we’ll find out if it’s true in due time. But if it is true, keep an eye on Thomas Graham. He visited South Bend for the Michigan State game, and it reportedly could not have gone better. Despite the loss, he enjoyed himself immensely and his parents are 100,000% on board with the Irish. Thomas has taken three official visits since that September 17th visit to Notre Dame, and he has one more coming up with Oregon. Even if Graham is not a silent commit right now, Notre Dame appears to be in the pole position for his services.
Michigan remains in front for Ambry Thomas. Notre Dame was kinda sorta in the mix here early on, but they never gained much traction. Michigan State pushed for him, but with their on the field troubles they’ve kind of sputtered a bit on the recruiting trail. Ohio State was also in the mix for a while, but it looks like they won’t have room for him (no room for a Top 100 player!!) so they’ve faded. He’s taken visits to a few different places, but nowhere that seems to really compete with Michigan.
Elijah Gates was a guy that looked like Notre Dame could make a move for over the summer, but things haven’t materialized there yet. With two corners in the fold already, and the Irish looking good for Thomas Graham, I would expect Gates to end up elsewhere.
Latavious Brini committed to Georgia shortly after visiting Notre Dame this summer, but has since decommitted and it now looks like he will probably land at Miami.
Yusuf Corker has been looking hard at schools like Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, and others. He’s taken a couple visits to Tennessee this fall, and they might be in the lead here but it’s anyone’s guess where he will end up.
Ameer Speed has a great name. He remains pretty open in his recruitment I couldn’t place who his leader might be, let alone where he might end up.
Off the Board
Stanford Samuels — Florida State
Shaun Wade, Amir Riep, and Marcus Williamson — Ohio State
Jamyest Williams — South Carolina
AJ Terrell — Clemson
Deommodore Lenoir and Jaylon Redd — Oregon
Chevin Calloway — Iowa
Kary Vincent — LSU
William Poole III — Georgia
LeAnthony Williams Jr — Clemson
Traivon Leonard — North Carolina
Troy Simon — Wake Forest
Any word on Wade? It sounded like he was looking at the Irish despite being an OSU commit.
It’s not gonna happen with him and ND. He enjoyed his ND visit, but it pretty much solidified their spot in a pretty distant 3rd place behind Ohio State and Alabama.
If he flips, it’ll be to the Tide.
I’m with Tyler, unfortunately. I don’t say this in any kind of pejorative sense – I think Wade is a great kid – but Notre Dame just wasn’t his type of environment. It didn’t click for him, and if it doesn’t click for a kid we’re dead in the water with him.
Ohio State, you might remember, also holds a commitment from former Irish safety target Isaiah Pryor, #46 overall in the 247 Composite. Okudah is #9. Wade is #20. Excuse me while I go puke.