Notre Dame 2023 Recruiting Hot Board: Latest On Remaining Targets
Notre Dame currently has 19 players committed in the 2023 class, which means the Irish are close to being filled up. After a hot streak to end June and begin July (five commits in six days), the Irish have had a couple of misses over the last week.
Notre Dame is all but assured of a top five class in 2023, but just how much the program closes the gap will be determined by how it closes on the 2023 class. There are several players left on the board with varying levels of interest and different timelines. Notre Dame is also looking to expand the board a bit, especially at quarterback.
As we enter the final weeks of the summer let's take a look at who is left on the board and where things stand. (Note: You can find what the hot, warm and cool designations mean at the bottom of the article)
OFFENSE
Notre Dame needs the most closing work on offense, where it still has needs at running back and wide receiver. Notre Dame has narrowed down its board and is putting all its eggs in the basket of prospects listed below. It's a risky strategy because Notre Dame needs two more receivers, but that is how high the Notre Dame staff is on the remaining receivers. Notre Dame views them as the type of gap closers that can turn the receiver class into an elite unit. Love brings similar ability as an all-around player.
Notre Dame has a good offensive class right now, but it needs to go three-for-three on the group below to have a truly elite class .... outside of quarterback.
Greathouse is set to make his commitment known on Friday, July 15. He is down to the Irish, Texas, Oklahoma and South Carolina. Notre Dame has made Greathouse a priority since the new staff was hired, and it hopes the hard work will pay off on Friday.
Notre Dame hosted Greathouse for an unofficial visit the weekend of the Blue-Gold Game and for an official visit the weekend of June 17-19. During that period the Irish staff put itself in great position to add Greathouse to the class despite hard pushes from the Sooners, Gamecocks and Longhorns.
Heading into his announcement, Notre Dame clearly has all the momentum, which is important because Greathouse is without question a must-get for the staff. He is one of the best receiver prospects in the class and he has the tools to step into the rotation the moment he steps foot on campus.
Two weeks ago I would have said the same thing about Hanafin that I said about Greathouse, that it was a matter of when not if he would choose Notre Dame. Over the last week my confidence in that happening has wavered. I believe Notre Dame is still the leader but Clemson has really made this a difficult battle.
Hanafin visited Clemson officially the weekend of June 3-5 and trekked to Notre Dame officially the next weekend. He finished the month off with trips to Alabama and Boston College, but this battle appears to be down to the Fighting Irish and Tigers, who are both recruiting Hanafin as a wide receiver.
Every source I have feels that Notre Dame has been in the lead from the beginning, but there is a reason Hanafin has yet to make a final decision. I'm not saying I know what that reason is (I don't), but clearly Hanafin is still going back and forth between Notre Dame and Clemson. The longer this drags out the less confident I'll be in Notre Dame's chances.
Simply put, Notre Dame cannot afford to miss here. Not only do the Irish need four very talented receivers in this class, Hanafin is an extremely talented player that has a five-star upside grade on the Irish Breakdown board. Chansi Stuckey needs to do whatever it takes to overcome the connection Hanafin clearly has with the Clemson program and close this one out.
Love's recruitment to Notre Dame has been an interesting affair. He went from being an all-around athlete recruit to a running back recruit to now he's a running back recruit that can do a lot of different things. One thing is for certain, Love is an explosive playmaker that Notre Dame wants and needs in this class, no matter what position he ends up playing.
The St. Louis native took official visits to Texas A&M (June 3-5), Michigan (June 10-12), Notre Dame (June 17-19) and Alabama (June 24-26). Love also visited Notre Dame the weekend of March 17-19, and at that time the Irish became major players in his recruitment. Notre Dame has done very well in Missouri in recent seasons, including a recent pickup of St. Louis (Mo.) DeSmet standout cornerback Christian Gray. It now wants to cap things off with Love and Missouri native Samuel M'Pemba (see below).
Love recently told Irish Breakdown that he was down to two schools, and one is Notre Dame. He did not say who the other program was, but Michigan and Alabama appeared to also be very much in the mix along with the Irish. Notre Dame and Deland McCullough need to close this one out.
DEFENSE
Notre Dame's defensive class is absolutely loaded and a case could be made the Irish have met all their numbers needs in the class. I think another linebacker is needed, but after that the focus has to be on adding game changers, and that's what the staff has left on the board.
Notre Dame has been recruiting Ausberry for quite some time. He visited for a camp last summer and has been a must-get, priority recruit ever since. Notre Dame has gotten him on campus twice this offseason, hosting him for an unofficial visit on March 18 and again for an official visit the weekend of June 10-12. He also made official visits to Auburn (June 3-5), Texas A&M (June 17-19) and Michigan (June 24-26).
Head coach Marcus Freeman has worked hard on Ausberry and defensive coordinator Al Golden has gotten into the mix since he was hired. Notre Dame has been considered a strong contender for Ausberry for months, but the Irish appeared to really make a serious move during his official visit in June.
Ausberry has been considered a player that was going to carry his recruitment out a bit, but Notre Dame is hoping it can change that and close on him during the summer. Right now I'm leaning towards that being a legitimate option right now. Ausberry is an outstanding football player that would give the Irish one of the nation's best linebacker hauls and would team with current commit Drayk Bowen to form arguably the best one-two linebacker tandem in the country.
Ausberry would give the Irish recruiting class a boost in its quest for No. 1, but more importantly he would close out the "needs" portion of the class with a truly special student-athlete.
There are basically three reasons a recruitment can be considered cool. One is the prospect isn't close to making a decision, two is Notre Dame has backed off a prospect and three is the Irish are just not in position to close the recruitment out. With M'Pemba it is number one, he's not close to making a decision. There have been multiple times that rumblings were he would wind things down, but M'Pemba has decided to take this one to the end.
Notre Dame was once considered the leader for M'Pemba, but in recent months programs like Georgia, Miami and others have jumped ahead. He recently released a top seven that includes the Irish, Bulldogs and Hurricanes along with Alabama, Florida, Oregon and Tennessee.
Notre Dame was supposed to host M'Pemba for an official visit this summer, but instead they mutually agreed to bring him in the weekend of Nov. 7 when the Irish host Clemson. That puts the official visit much closer to his decision date. Notre Dame is in this recruitment, but a lot will happen between now and his expected December decision.
Notre Dame has done everything it can to land Downs, but I just don't see it happening. He's been on campus at least four times, and the Irish put their best foot forward when he visited officially the weekend of June 10-12. For a brief moment there was optimism that the Irish would be able to pull off a massive upset, but by the time he was done with visits to Alabama (June 17-19) and Ohio State (June 24-26) all that momentum was gone.
I really don't know what Notre Dame can say or do right now to get Downs to choose them over Ohio State, Alabama and Georgia. He's a strong student, he's a great fit at Notre Dame and if he picked the Irish there would not be a team in the country that would have a better defensive class than Notre Dame. But at the end of the day Notre Dame has just never been able to put itself ahead of Alabama and Georgia, and Ohio State has also passed the Irish up.
Maybe something could change during the season, but right now four previous visits and the full court press haven't moved the needle with Downs. I don't see that changing.
QUARTERBACK - WHERE THINGS STAND
Notre Dame made Dante Moore its priority for months, but with him now off the board the Irish staff is prepared to move on. Barring CJ Carr deciding to reclassify in the next 48 hours I expect the Irish to start to make a move on some 2023 quarterbacks.
Three players I think have a great chance to get offered this week are Dripping Springs (Texas) High School standout Austin Novosad (Baylor commit), Hendersonville (Tenn.) Pope John Paul II star Kenny Minchey (Pitt commit) and Memphis (Tenn.) Lausanne Collegiate signal caller Brock Glenn.
The 2023 class is absolutely loaded with talented quarterbacks, so there will be plenty of options for Notre Dame to pursue. It might take some time, but the Irish will find a quarterback in the class.
HOT BOARD KEY
Hot means things are really, really going well on both sides of the recruitment.
Warm means there is legit interest from both but not in the committing discussion yet.
Cool means one or both sides aren't high on the other or the prospect is a long way away from making a decision.
2023 COMMITS (19)
RB Jayden Limar - 5-11, 190, Lake Stevens (Wash.) High School
WR Braylon James - 6-3, 185, Round Rock (Texas) Stony Point
WR Rico Flores Jr. - 6-1, 190, Folsom (Calif.) High School
TE Cooper Flanagan - 6-5, 240, Concord (Calif.) De La Salle
OL Sam Pendleton - 6-4, 305, Pfafftown (N.C.) Ronald Reagan
OL Sullivan Absher - 6-7, 285, Belmont (N.C.) South Point
OL Joe Otting - 6-4, 270, Topeka (Kan.) Hayden
OL Elijah Paige - 6-6, 300, Phoenix (Ariz.) Pinnacle
OL Charles Jagusah - 6-6, 295, Rock Island (Ill.) Alleman
DE Keon Keeley - 6-6, 230, Tampa (Fla.) Berkeley Prep
DE Brenan Vernon - 6-5, 250, Mentor (Ohio) High School
DL Boubacar Traore - 6-4, 255, West Roxbury (Mass.) Catholic Memorial
DL Devan Houstan - 6-5, 275, Hagerstown (Md.) Saint James School
LB Drayk Bowen - 6-2, 215, Merrillville (Ind.) Andrean
LB Preston Zinter - 6-3, 215, Lawrence (Mass.) Central Catholic
S Peyton Bowen - 6-1, 185, Denton (Texas) Guyer
S Adon Shuler - 6-1, 190, Irvington (N.J.) High School
CB Micah Bell - 5-11, 165, Houston (Texas) The Kinkaid School
CB Christian Gray - 6-1, 175, St. Louis (Mo.) DeSmet Jesuit
Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge
Irish Breakdown Content
Notre Dame 2022 Roster
Notre Dame 2022 Schedule
Notre Dame 2023 Class Big Board
Notre Dame 2023 Commits Board - Offense
Notre Dame 2023 Commits Board - Defense
Notre Dame 2023 Scholarship Offers
Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers
Ranking The 2022 Signees - Offense
Ranking The 2022 Signees - Defense
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