Recruiting Trends Notre Dame Will Need To Continue In 2024

Trends are an important thing in the recruiting world. Creating pipelines in certain areas, or focusing on building a specific part of your roster for optimum success can be the difference between winning and losing consistently.

For Notre Dame, the first recruiting cycle under Head Coach Marcus Freeman has several trends that the program will hope to build on heading into year two. They have clearly identified a structure that works for them, including areas that were neglected in previous years.

Here are a few of those trends that need to continue moving forward for the Irish staff.

STACK WIDE RECEIVER CLASSES

A year after signing just one wide receiver in the 2022 recruiting class, although it was a darn good one in freshman Tobias Merriweather, the Notre Dame staff made it a priority to acquire more talent and numbers out wide. They did just that, pulling in an outstanding four-man class in the 2023 recruiting cycle.

Chansi Stuckey and the staff utilized his Lone Star state ties and attracted some of the more talented pass catchers in the 2023 class. That includes Austin (Texas) Westlake star pass catcher Jaden Greathouse, who is one of the more decorated wide receivers in the nation.

Round Rock (Texas) Stony Point standout Braylon James has arguably as much upside of any wide receiver in the class. The 6-3, 185-pound pass catcher is a height-weight-speed dynamo that could be an absolute headache for opposing defenses.

Frisco (Texas) Reedy star Kaleb Smith is going to potentially bring a unique dynamic to the Notre Dame team. They haven’t done a good enough job of attracting the slot receiver types who can make things happen in space. Getting a player like Smith brings some dynamic ability to the table and was a tremendous later addition to the class.

A player that not many Notre Dame fans talk about is Folsom (Calif.) High School star Rico Flores Jr., who is one of the more mature pass catchers that you will find. That stellar class was much needed after how the previous staff left the position, particularly with a lack of numbers.

The 2023 group will go a long way in rebuilding that wide receiver group but the team must stack classes to really have a legitimate impact out wide.

Notre Dame has already secured a commitment from 2024 Glen Ellyn (Ill.) Glenbard South star Cam Williams, who has five-star upside at the position. The team is also in a solid standing so far with several top pass catchers in the 2024 class.

Stacking another talented group in back-to-back years would be massive for the team moving forward.

DOMINATE IN ST. LOUIS

Notre Dame has had some sporadic success in the St. Louis area over the last few years. Former standout running back Kyren Williams was from the area, as was current Irish defensive lineman Gabriel Rubio and Tyson Ford.

Over the next couple of recruiting classes, there is an impressive level of standout athletes who are coming out. The Irish staff is aware and is excited to tap into that pipeline moving forward.

That pipeline hopefully started in the 2023 recruiting class with running back Jeremiyah Love and cornerback Christian Gray, both of which rank as top 100 players nationally in the class.

The staff has also already handed 2024 Hannibal (Mo.) High School running back Aneyas Williams a few weeks ago. Although he plays his football an hour north of St. Louis, Williams is yet another example of the talent that the area is producing.

For the rest of the 2024 class, the Notre Dame have their eyes on several more standout players from St. Louis. With players such as wide receivers Ryan Wingo and Jeremiah McClellan, five-star defensive end Williams Nwaneri and tight end Jaden Reddell, the team could have a tremendous impact over the next year. Clearly it is a wise move for the staff to continue that impact and strengthen the pipeline.

IMPRINT IN NEW ENGLAND

Although it isn’t a star studded crop of talent every year, the New England region has routinely put out some notable talents into the college ranks. The 2023 recruiting class is evidence of that for Notre Dame.

The staff went up to the state of Massachusetts and secured commitments from defensive end Boubacar Traore and linebacker Preston Zinter. They were able to land two of the top players from the state in the cycle, which so happens to be a tremendously talented crop coming out of Massachusetts this year.

Flashing forward to next year, Notre Dame hopes to again make an impact in Massachusetts. Right now, they appear to be the leader for West Roxbury (Mass.) Catholic Memorial offensive tackle Guerby Lambert, who is the teammate of Traore. They have also recently offered Brookline (Mass.) Dexter School offensive lineman Liam Andrews, who is worth keeping a close eye on.

The Irish staff is also targeting a very impressive pair of twin defensive lineman in the state of Connecticut. Windsor (Conn.) Loomis Chaffee standouts Jacob and Jerod Smith appear to be very high on Notre Dame thus far, and the staff reciprocates that interest.

With no elite programs in that Northeastern region, it would be wise for Notre Dame to dip into that area when the fit makes sense.

GET INTO TEXAS AGAIN

In the 2023 recruiting class, Notre Dame was able to sign four different players out of the state of Texas. In the previous five recruiting classes, the Irish staff had only signed a total of three players from the state overall.

Not only did the staff outdo the previous five year totals in one class, they were also able to attract several big time athletes, including the three-man wide receiver class and star cornerback Micah Bell. For whatever reason, the previous staff did not prioritize arguably the premier hot bed of next level talent in Texas.

The staff under Marcus Freeman does not appear willing to make that same mistake.

Notre Dame has already offered several standouts from the state but haven’t made a ton of progress so far with any in particular. They will need to begin to move the needle to once again impact the area accordingly.

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