Notre Dame Football Recruiting Roundup - January 30th
It was once again a very busy week on the recruiting trail for the Notre Dame staff. The coaches were once again on the road, visiting the schools of some of the top recruits in the 2024 and 2025 recruiting classes. Several offers quickly followed.
The staff is also ramping up for some more recruits visiting on Sunday potentially, including arguably their top remaining target in the 2024 recruiting class. On top of that, they also welcomed a new graduate transfer to the program this week.
The Irish staff appear to sleep very little. They have been really grinding over the last few weeks and making waves with potential recruits. The relentlessness is something to admire.
LATEST RECRUITING NEWS
The big recruiting news of the week is that the staff is set to host several talented 2024 recruits on campus on Sunday. They are expecting three current Notre Dame commits, including quarterback CJ Carr, wide receiver Cam Williams and cornerback Karson Hobbs.
That will be a big help to the staff as they try to impress two visitors in particular. Among the recruits who could potentially make the trip to be on campus, there is a great argument that Chicago (Ill.) St. Ignatius defensive tackle Justin Scott may be the most important target left on the board regardless of position.
He was originally set to make his commitment on January 31, his birthday. There was a great belief that Notre Dame was in a great position with the Chicago native but that decision date got delayed. Notre Dame tried to get Scott on campus this weekend but he never made it.
For the very first time, Round Rock (Texas) High School cornerback Leonard Moore made a visit to campus. After receiving his offer a couple of weeks ago, the 6-1, 175-pound cover man has quickly become a player to keep a close eye on.
Notre Dame is trending in a very positive direction even before Moore and his family made the trip. Getting him on campus so quickly could be a massive momentum tool, and early report coming out of the visit are that Notre Dame made a major move with Moore and has put itself in very, very good position.
For updates on how the visits this weekend went, make sure to sign up for the Premium Message Board for the latest intel.
Notre Dame helped to improve its depth on defense this week, welcoming former Princeton defender Cole Aubrey to the team as a walk-on. The 6-2, 235-pound graduate student has experience playing on the edge and as an inside linebacker for Princeton.
In his best season for the Tigers, Aubrey recorded six sacks and 11 tackles for loss in just ten games. He ended his career with 10 sacks and 21 tackles for loss, playing reps as a stacked linebacker and on ball as a pass rusher as well.
Whether it is as a pass rusher, linebacker, special teams or on scout team, Aubrey is ready to make an impact on whatever role Notre Dame sees fit.
The staff was busy making school visits this week. Here are a few of the key tidbits from the week:
On Wednesday, Al Golden made a stop at Loomis Chafee School in Connecticut, which is the home of 2024 defensive lineman Jacob and Jerod Smith. The twins recently put out a top ten school list that included the Irish, Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Texas, Penn State, Iowa, Kentucky, Ole Miss, and Nebraska.
On Thursday, Tommy Rees was out to see star 2024 St. Louis (Mo.) Christian Brothers pass catcher Jeremiah McClellan, which is the same school as 2023 running back commit Jeremiyah Love. The Missouri native was at Oregon this weekend and has set a visit to Clemson in March so far. He also is once again planning a trip to Notre Dame sometime over the next few months.
A player to keep a close eye on is 2024 Springfield (Ohio) High School star cornerback Aaron Scott, who is right near the top of the board for Notre Dame. On Friday, Marcus Freeman and Mike Mickens went to visit his school. Scott seems very interested in Notre Dame but it will be a rough pull from Ohio State. The staff is without question putting in the effort to make this one interesting.
In a bit of news on Saturday, Notre Dame was also among the top eight schools for talented Tampa Bay (Fla.) Carrollwood Day wide receiver Bredell Richardson. The Irish were joined by Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Tennessee, Michigan State and Colorado on that list.
RECENT PROSPECT INTERVIEWS
After the news broke about Aubrey choosing Notre Dame, I had the chance to sit down with him for an interview about the move. He spoke a lot about the fit, his eagerness to do his part for Notre Dame and ability to continue his academic career.
During the week, Notre Dame did extend an offer to 2026 Cincinnati (Ohio) Withrow wide receiver Chris Henry Jr. I quickly had the chance to speak with Henry, who is of course the son of the late Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver of the same name.
The Irish were out to visit American Fork (Utah) High School safety Davis Andrews, who is an extremely interesting athlete in the 2024 class. Shortly after the offer, the Andrews family already set up a visit to campus for the Blue-Gold Game on April 22.
One of the big risers in the 2024 defensive line class is Conroe (Texas) Oak Ridge standout Joseph Jonah-Ajonye. The 6-4, 235-pound pass rusher has been pulling in a flurry of impressive offers recently. He is an extremely interesting player.
NEW OFFERS
With the busy week on the recruiting trail, the Notre Dame staff was busy extending offers to some talented 2024 and 2025 recruits. Here are the players who were offered this week.
RB Dierre Hill Jr. - St. Louis (Mo.) Vashon (2025)
WR Chris Henry Jr. - Cincinnati (Ohio) Withrow (2026)
WR Davis Washington - Las Vegas (Nev.) Arbor View
EDGE Joseph Jonah-Ajonye Conroe (Texas) Oak Ridge
LB Cole Sullivan Pittsburgh (Pa.) Central Catholic
S Davis Andrews - American Fork (Utah) HS
Irish Breakdown Fans be sure to get your Notre Dame tickets from SI Tickets HERE
Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge
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