Notre Dame Looking To Get Back Into Successful Ohio Recruiting
The state of Ohio used to be a base region for Notre Dame, but the Buckeye State has grown increasingly less fruitful for the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame has had success recruiting linemen from the state, but recruiting skill players has been a bigger issue.
Notre Dame has been working to fix that, especially with head coach and Ohio native Marcus Freeman in charge. Since Freeman was hired the Irish have landed a skill player in three straight season. Notre Dame landed running back Gi'Bran Payne in the 2022 class, safety Ben Minich in the 2023 class and cornerback Karson Hobbs in the 2024 class.
Notre Dame also landed defensive end Brenan Vernon in the 2023 class.
The Irish staff is looking to get back into the state for more in the 2024 class and beyond.
EARLY RETURNS
Notre Dame secured a commitment from Cincinnati (Ohio) Archbishop Moeller cornerback Karson Hobbs in November. The staff was able to flip the 6-1, 180-pound cover man from his initial commitment to South Carolina.
On top of Hobbs being a talented prospect, getting into a school with the reputation of Archbishop Moeller makes it an important grab. If you’re a stickler for star rankings, you may be slightly down on Hobbs. But if Mike Mickens has proven anything over his time at Notre Dame, trusting him to identify and develop is a very wise move.
2024 CORNER TARGETS REMAIN
The remaining target pool on the board in 2024 is extremely small right now. That obviously could change but right now Notre Dame seems very interested in potentially pushing for another Ohio cornerback to pair with Hobbs.
The big name to familiarize yourself with is Springfield (Ohio) High School defensive back Aaron Scott. The 6-1, 160-pound cornerback is one of the more physically gifted cover men on the board for Notre Dame. Long and springy, he has the look of a coverage versatile cornerback who can do a little bit of everything for a team.
The Irish staff is making a hard push so far and Scott does seem to be responsive and intrigued by their pitch. It will be an Ohio State versus Notre Dame battle for the talented defender.
Another Ohio defensive back worth keeping an eye on is Cleveland (Ohio) Grenville standout Bryce West, who the staff does like. There just hasn’t been a ton of traction with West and the staff is targeting a couple other cornerbacks on the board right now. West is without question one of the best cornerbacks in the 2024 recruiting class.
It’ll be interesting to see if Notre Dame can stay on him and chip away at Ohio State’s lead.
YOUNGER CLASSES GETTING EARLY ATTENTION
Although the 2024 board is small, the Irish staff is getting a head start on the 2025 and now the 2026 classes.
Notre Dame hosted Clayton (Ohio) Northmont wide receiver Dorian Brew for a visit in early January. They quickly followed with an offer to the talented 2025 pass catcher.
Yesterday, Notre Dame extended an offer to Cincinnati (Ohio) Withrow wideout Chris Henry Jr. The 2026 star is the son of the late Chris Henry, who starred at West Virginia and with the Bengals.
Irish Breakdown Content
2023 Scholarship Chart
2023 Football Schedule
Notre Dame 2023 Scholarship Offers
Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense
———————
Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board! Click on the link below for more.
Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!
Join the Irish Breakdown community!
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes
Follow me on Twitter: @RiseNDraft
Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook