St. Louis Is Quickly Becoming A Very Important Recruiting Base For Notre Dame
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From the moment Marcus Freeman was hired as head coach and Chad Bowden was promoted to the head of the entire recruiting operation the Notre Dame program had to rethink its recruiting strategy. Notre Dame needs to continue adding more and more dynamic talent to the roster.
Making a living recruiting the Southeast to fill those needs has been a frustrating, and mostly unfruitful enterprise outside of a few players here and there. Notre Dame's staff decided to expand its recruiting base and look for new areas where it could land the elite athletes it wants and needs to build a national champion.
Notre Dame made two very clear decisions; it needed to recruit St. Louis and it needed to recruit Texas hard ..... very hard.
It has paid off in a big way. Much has been made about the success in Texas, but St. Louis has been huge for Notre Dame in the 2023 class and has the potential to be a home base area for the Irish if they can build on this year's success.
IMPACT 2023 TALENT
Notre Dame was able to get a massive victory back in July when they received a commitment from 2023 cornerback Christian Gray. The St. Louis native opted for the Irish over Ohio State, LSU and USC. Add in the fact that Gray’s sister currently attends Ohio State and it makes it even more impressive.
Gray has the combination of length, athleticism and football IQ to be a dominant cover man, and his range fits very well into Notre Dame's coverage scheme. Adding him to the class a year after landing Benjamin Morrison and Jaden Mickey was incredibly important for the Irish staff.
Notre Dame needs to stack elite groups of athletes on top of each other to get where it wants to be ..... which is hoisting up a national championship trophy. Gray is a step towards doing that.
The staff wasn’t done there.
Notre Dame needs more home run hitters and more playmakers on offense, and back in the early spring the staff identified another St. Louis standout - running back Jeremiyah Love - as a player that could bring that kind of big-time skill to the roster. Notre Dame beat out programs like Texas A&M, Alabama, Oregon and Michigan to add Love to the class.
As good as both players were as juniors when Notre Dame first got on them, both exploded as seniors and showed they are without question Top 100 talents. That's two Top 100 talents from the same city, and it adds onto recent success with players like Kyren Williams, Gabriel Rubio and Tyson Ford to begin the process of building a pipeline to a city that produced big time talent year after year.
CONTINUING MOMENTUM
Notre Dame is hoping to hit another home run in St. Louis in the 2024 class.
The Notre Dame staff got out to St. Louis (Mo.) University this week, which is the home of five-star wide receiver Ryan Wingo, who is another top of the board target for the Irish in the 2024 class. Notre Dame is working very, very hard to land Wingo, but it won't be easy.
Wingo is a high academic kid who has been extremely responsive to Notre Dame thus far. With plans to make his commitment sometime next summer, there is still plenty of time to make their pitch known. Wingo is a five-star recruit and the No. 7 overall player in the country according to Rivals.
There is no clear leader for Wingo thus far but the Irish staff has certainly put themselves in the running. The staff will need to prepare themselves to fight for the St. Louis star. Wingo would be a massive haul if Notre Dame was able to close.
The coaches didn’t have to do much traveling to spend some time with standout 2024 pass catcher Jeremiah McClellan, who is Love’s teammate at Christian Brothers.
The 6-1, 185-pound wideout is among the biggest risers in the 2024 class. McClellan is currently ranked as the No. 153 overall player in the class according to 247Sports. He is coming off of a dominant junior campaign for the state champions. McClellan hauled in 61 receptions for 1,103 yards and 13 touchdowns. The team also used him as a wildcat quarterback where he carried the football for 330 yards and four touchdowns on just 29 carries.
With the staff’s commitment of Love, it is a tremendous recruiting pitch to get in with “JMac.” The Irish have done a good job early and there is definitely a lot of interest from both sides.
OTHER MISSOURI STARS
Although not a part of this trip, the “St. Louis push” in recruiting does extend to other areas of the state of Missouri. Among the biggest targets in the 2024 recruiting class, Hannibal (Mo.) High School running back Aneyas Williams is a favorite of the staff. Williams recently announced his intentions to make his college decision on December 16th with Notre Dame being one of the main contenders for his services.
The 5-11, 200-pound runner is the type of all-around weapon that the program continues to value tremendously. While the staff didn’t travel to see Williams yesterday, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him a part of the travel plans over the next few days.
Arguably the most talented defensive lineman on the board, Lee’s Summit (Mo.) North star defensive end Williams Nwaneri is a five-star level talent coming off the edge. The 6-5, 240-pound pass rusher is an incredible blend of length, explosiveness and power. The Irish staff would love to get in the conversation with Nwaneri this winter and while moving forward.
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