Notre Dame 2023 Hot Board: Wide Receiver
Notre Dame enters the 2023 recruiting cycle in a very precarious situation when it comes to the wide receiver position. The Fighting Irish have some talented players on the current roster, but looking forward the numbers are getting shaky.
First-year position coach Chansi Stuckey arrives at Notre Dame in a situation where he must make an immediate impact. The good news for Stuckey and the Notre Dame program is that the current board of wide receivers is absolutely loaded.
Stuckey, offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, head coach Marcus Freeman and director of recruiting Chad Bowden have put Notre Dame in position to land a special receiver class, but closing will be the key.
Here is the latest on where things stand for Notre Dame with receiver recruiting.
(Note: See below for explanation on Hot, Warm, Cool)
James visited Notre Dame this weekend and things went exceptionally well. As we reported on the premium message board over a month ago, Notre Dame was considered the leader prior to the visit, and the visit only solidified that standard.
The 6-3, 185-pound receiver is an outstanding student, and his passion for high academics played a huge role in Notre Dame being in such a good position coming into the visit. The staff confirmed that as being a strength for the program coming into the visit, but the visit also was vital to show him the football fit. Notre Dame's staff showed James how well he fits into the pro-style offense, and James came away extremely impressed with what he heard. Rees especially made a strong impact on James during the visit.
Notre Dame is in great position with James and the key is now is closing the deal. LSU, Stanford, Texas A&M and Texas are among several schools still pushing hard, but the Irish could be very, very tough to beat at this point.
Tate also made a trip to campus last week, and like James the Irish put their best foot forward. Notre Dame is still making up ground it lost under the previous leadership, but Rees, Bowden and Freeman have done a lot of work to get caught up there. Stuckey, however, is the key. The Irish receivers coach has worked hard to build a connection with Tate and his mother, and that's the key for Notre Dame.
His visit last week was about continuing to establish that connection and showing Tate how well he fits in at Notre Dame in every aspect, and showing him the opportunities on the field, in the classroom and from a NIL standpoint that await him should he choose Notre Dame.
Ohio State and Tennessee are the primary contenders for Tate. Both are pitching things Notre Dame can't directly match, but if the staff can sell him on the big picture the Irish will have a chance here. Getting Tate back on campus this spring (Blue-Gold Game) is essential.
Hanafin's recruiting is interesting in so many ways. Number one, we are putting him at wide receiver but a case could be made he could also fit in at linebacker or safety. At this point it sounds like Notre Dame just wants him in the class and will figure out the position aspect later as the rest of the class shapes up.
Hanafin seems to want to take his time in order to make the right decision, and Notre Dame has been supportive of that so far. There's no rush on either side to make this happen in the near future, and the Massachusetts athlete prefers patience and making the right decision over rushing into the emotional choice.
The 6-3, 205-pound two-way standout has been on campus twice this winter and it wouldn't surprise me if he gets back again before officials. Depending on how other recruitments go over the next month there could come a time when things need to get sped up, but until then both sides are willing and able to let this play out.
Notre Dame has more work to do with Greathouse than it does the above three receivers, but Stuckey, Rees and Bowden have done a tremendous job getting them in the game so far. Greathouse wasn't on the radar prior to Stuckey arriving and now the Irish are legitimate contenders for his services.
Greathouse has already scheduled two visits to Notre Dame, which shows the impact the staff has made thus far. The 6-2, 210-pound pass catcher is slated to attend the April 23rd Blue-Gold Game and he also told Irish Breakdown he was planning to comeback this summer to attend camp. Notre Dame hasn't asked Greathouse to work out at camp because they already love him as a player, it sounds like he wants to come back and compete and work with Stuckey, which says a lot.
Texas is considered the early favorite but Greathouse seems to be quite open at this point, and that allowed Notre Dame to get itself squarely in the mix.
We considered putting Gallagher in the cool category simply because he seems to far away from a decision. Gallagher has been focused on basketball until this past week, but with the hoops season over he now plans to start setting up visits. You can expect Notre Dame to be one of the places Gallagher gets to either during the spring or summer.
Penn State is the perceived early leader but Gallagher is very open. Notre Dame's staff has been working hard on this one for a couple of months, and Rees, Stuckey and Bowden all appear extremely high on Gallagher.
Getting him on campus will be the true test of gauging his interest level, but the Irish are in a good starting position.
Flores included Notre Dame in his Top 5 recently but the Irish are considered at the bottom of that list. He's talked about getting on campus but at this time that has yet to materialize, and as of now no visit date is scheduled, at least not to our knowledge. Until he commits to getting on campus it's hard to see Flores ending up at Notre Dame.
There are two positives working in Notre Dame's favor. One is that Flores is an excellent student and values the academic piece. The other is his final five also included Ohio State, Georgia and Texas, so clearly leaving the West Coast isn't something he's unwilling to consider.
Elzy's recruitment is interesting in many ways. Notre Dame is quite familiar with him and seems to like him, and Elzy likes Notre Dame, but just where each stands with each other is the bigger question mark.
Right now we don't believe Elzy is in the "top group" of receivers Notre Dame is pushing for. On Elzy's end our sources indicate that he's looking for a situation where he is "the guy" for a staff, which is why we feel Illinois is in such a strong position.
Things obviously could change, but that's our current read and why Elzy is in the cool category.
Williams is extremely talented and the staff likes him quite a bit, but right now he's in the cool category because while he has expressed interest in Notre Dame and communicates with the staff, he hasn't been on campus, currently doesn't have a visit set up (to our knowledge) and doesn't seem high enough on Notre Dame for them to be a contender at the moment.
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.
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