Fact or Fiction: Notre Dame now is team to beat for Jaylen Sneed
National recruiting director Adam Gorney and analyst Sam Spiegelman along with Paul Strelow from TigerIllustrated.com and Mike Singer of BlueandGold.com tackle three topics in recruiting and determine whether they believe the statements or not.
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1. After a visit to Notre Dame, the Irish are now the team to beat for Jaylen Sneed.
Gorney’s take: FACT. Sneed might not be ready to make a commitment in the next couple weeks but there are two things in Notre Dame’s favor here: He had an excellent time walking around the campus recently but even more importantly is his relationship with Marcus Freeman. When asked what was most important in a school, the first thing Sneed said was his relationship with the defensive coordinator and position coach. That’s really telling. Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Texas A&M and others are very much involved but Sneed has the best relationships with the Irish coaches and that is a big factor here.
Singer’s take: FACT. Oklahoma and Oregon are pushing hard as well, but Notre Dame offers the blend of strong academics and powerhouse football that Sneed is looking for. A key factor here is the longstanding relationship his high school head coach has with Irish defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman. Sneed has built a close connection with Freeman over the past couple of months as well, and as of today, I like Notre Dame to win the recruitment and have my FutureCast pick in for the Irish.
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2. Clemson will be a real contender for five-star S Jacoby Mathews.
Gorney’s take: FACT. There’s no doubt LSU and Florida look to be in the best shape for Mathews and I completely understand the rationale that kids from Louisiana almost always stay home. But I believe Clemson has a real shot here. First, Mathews told me “for sure” Clemson will be included in his top group. He wanted this offer for a while and maybe most importantly Mathews has made it no secret he is seriously thinking about getting away from the state to play college football. What happens at LSU over the next many months could make things really interesting and if it’s bad news and Clemson puts the full-court press on, I won’t count it out at all.
Strelow’s take: FICTION: Tracing back to more than a year ago, there was evidence Mathews coveted the Clemson offer. And yes, the Tigers have earned the cachet to be respected in most pursuits they enter. So there's reason to think there might be more here than Clemson just dropping its business card in the jar. But if LSU or Alabama recruits them right, then odds are that any Louisiana kid is going to be awfully tough to pull -- no matter what's going on with LSU's program. Mathews appears to want to take visits and experience the recruiting song and dance. Florida feels the popular flavor right now and, at least, holds greater initial footing. We don't discount Clemson drawing a visit, and it would be premature to dismiss circumstances changing more than eight months from the early signing period. But the stronger bet would have Mathews circling back to one of the closer name programs when all the courting is out of his system.
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3. The three uncommitted five-stars in Texas will all stay in-state.
Gorney’s take: FACT. I completely understand the argument that all three are hearing from many other programs and there’s a chance that all three could leave the state just like Quinn Ewers to Ohio State and Keithian Alexander to Georgia but I have a lot of faith in the staffs at Texas and Texas A&M to close on these guys. My prediction right now on Kam Dewberry to Texas A&M and Devon Campebell to Texas. Denver Harris is the real wild card because the Longhorns have a shot at the five-star cornerback that they’re not getting credit for, plus he’s a Houston kid which means A&M is going to battle until the end. Can one of those three leave the state? Sure. But I’m betting right now that they stay home.
Spiegelman’s take: FICTION: Dewberry, Campbell and Harris could all likely wind up in-state. No team is recruiting the state better than the Aggies and Texas coach Steve Sarkisian has an all-star staff that's going to make noise -- and already has. However, there's still an Alabama factor with both Dewberry and Harris that's hard to ignore. Ohio State, Oklahoma and LSU also have Dewberry's attention, and the Tigers are also high on Harris' and Campbell's lists, too. There's a good chance that at least one and likely two of these three wind up playing their college ball in-state, but let's assume at least one slips away.