Notre Dame 2023 Recruiting Hot Board: Wide Receiver

There has been a lot of movement over the last month at wide receiver for Notre Dame in the 2023 class. Since our last hot board update for the wideouts the Fighting Irish have landed a commitment and hosted several of its top targets.

Wide receivers coach Chansi Stuckey has also expanded the board in recent weeks, and the Irish staff is looking to continue adding to the class. With so many players visiting campus in June things could get very, very interesting when it comes to filling out the class. A case could be made that the next two months will make or break this wide receiver class.

Here is the latest on where things stand for Notre Dame with wide receiver recruiting. (Note: See below for explanation on Hot, Warm, Cool)

James committed to Notre Dame on April 19th. He was high on Notre Dame for some time, and his visit to South Bend in March all but wrapped things up. James is a high academic young man that has many interests beyond the football field, which is why he was such a great fit for Notre Dame. From a football standout, James has five-star upside and brings a great deal potential to the class.

Since joining the class James has been active when it comes to recruiting others to join him.

Notre Dame hosted Greathouse for a visit on April 23rd during the Blue-Gold Game. It was his first visit to campus and things could not have gone any better for the Irish and Greathouse.

Like James, Greathouse arrived on campus with a high level of interest in Notre Dame. Notre Dame had a chance to make a move with Greathouse and that is exactly what happened. Coming into the visit the in-state Texas Longhorns were considered the favorite, but that changed following the visit.

Notre Dame made a serious move with Greathouse and are now the team to beat. Stuckey has been on Greathouse for some time, going back to his Baylor days, and that connection has only grown stronger in recent weeks. Greathouse is scheduled to return to campus the weekend of June 10 for an official visit. He is down to four schools: Notre Dame, Texas, Oklahoma and South Carolina.

Greathouse has yet to make a decision as to when he will make a final decision and announce it.

Gallagher made his first trip to campus the same weekend that Greathouse made his first trip. This duo is highly coveted by the Irish staff and both received a great deal of attention from the staff. Gallagher came into the visit with more questions about where the Irish stood with him, but that is no longer a question mark.

Notre Dame is now squarely in the mix for this one, and Irish Breakdown director of recruiting Ryan Roberts believes the Irish are now his leader. I believe Notre Dame is in great position but there is still a lot of work to be done. Do not sleep on West Virginia in this recruitment, and Penn State is making a hard charge as well.

The Notre Dame staff has made it very clear to Gallagher that he is a must-get player and one of the top prospects on the board, regardless of position. He is slated to visit Notre Dame the same weekend as Greathouse, and the Irish staff is hoping it can close out on Greathouse and Gallagher that weekend.

This weekend Gallagher announced he will make his decision known on July 4th.

Hanafin's recruitment has been quite interesting. Notre Dame was considered the clear leader back in January when he made a trip to campus, and he returned again in March for another visit. Since the January visit, Hanafin has seen his recruitment blow up. Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma, USC and LSU are just some of the schools that have since offered him a scholarship.

Hanafin's actions make it clear that while he likes Notre Dame, he is also very interested in other programs. He scheduled an official visit for Notre Dame the weekend of June 10-12, but he will also travel to Nebraska the following weekend and Alabama the final weekend of June. He'll be on campus at Clemson the first weekend of June.

Our sources have indicated Notre Dame is quite high on Hanafin, but we've reported for months that Hanafin doesn't seem to be in any kind of hurry to make a decision. Notre Dame cannot afford to miss on numbers or impact players at wide receiver in this class. Although the staff is quite high on Hanafin, the question is if he wants to take as much time as it appears he does, can the Irish staff afford to wait that long.

Flores has been bumped up to warm after being cool in the previous hot board update. The reason is Flores has scheduled an official visit to Notre Dame. He'll be on campus for the June 10-12 weekend, which as you can see is a familiar theme for wide receivers in this class.

I stated in the last update that Flores setting up a visit was the thing holding us back from really feeling good about Notre Dame's chances, and that is now a thing of the past. Flores is a high academic student and that is a key factor in his interest in Notre Dame. If the Irish staff can also show that the football piece can be great for him things could get very interesting.

Flores is down to Notre Dame, Ohio State, Texas, Georgia and UCLA. Notre Dame will need to knock his visit out of the park in June, but if they do the Irish will have a chance to hear their name called when he announces his commitment to a program on July 3rd.

I bumped Elzy up to warm from the last update, and it's due to him being on campus again for the Blue-Gold Game weekend. This is a recruitment that I find very interesting, and it's hard to comfortably put him in either category. There is no doubt the staff likes Elzy, but what I don't know is where he ranks on the board, or whether or not he is a take right now for Notre Dame. I'm not saying he is or isn't, I'm saying I do not know.

Elzy likes Notre Dame (and Illinois) and Notre Dame likes Elzy, but will it be enough to really push for him to join the class? That's what I do not know at this point, and why he was listed as cool in the last update.

Notre Dame is trying as hard as they can to get in the mix with Williams. Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees was down to see him at the end of April and Stuckey has tried to connect with Williams. The issue, however, is that he's not overly responsive all the time and he has been unwilling, at this point, to set up a visit to Notre Dame.

Williams included Notre Dame in a Top 10 schools release this weekend, but until he commits to making a visit to the South Bend campus I just don't see this one going anywhere.

If he makes it to campus I believe the staff could have a very, very good shot to convince Williams that Notre Dame is the place to be. The reality is in many, many ways Williams is a Notre Dame kid. He's a 4.0 student, he's thoughtful, he sees beyond the football field and he's not someone who seems overly concerned with the flash you often see with prospects who has his elite talent. But he won't know that until he gets on campus.

In March the Irish seemed to be a legitimate player for Tate, who was a top target for the Irish staff. Since then, however, Tate's actions and words are those of a prospect who isn't overly interested in making Notre Dame his future home.

Tate has spoken very highly of Notre Dame in the past, but since his March visit he decided not to return for an April visit like he mentioned he wanted to do, he has trolled Notre Dame fans on his social media platforms and several sources who have spoken with him and/or schools he visited recently came away feeling that Notre Dame was not a player in his recruitment.

At this point I don't view Tate as a serious candidate for Notre Dame. He's all but off the board at this point for me, and the only way that changes is if he makes it back to campus this summer for an official.

There is a new name on the board, and that is Missouri speedster Joshua Manning. Notre Dame only recently got in touch with Manning and the offer quickly followed. It's way too early to know where Notre Dame stands with him or Aidan Mizell, another prospect the Irish recently offered.

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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Notre Dame 2023 Class Big Board
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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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