Rumor Mill: Notre Dame commits recruiting top Irish targets
HARTFORD, Conn. – The New England Show Days allow high schools throughout the Northeast the chance to get as much exposure to college coaches as possible. The series of practices, timed so coaches and scouts can travel from one to the next without missing a school on the schedule, gave Rivals.com the opportunity to get a close look at the most heavily recruited prospects in the region.
Monday was the first of the three day event. The Connecticut schools were in the spotlight and national recruiting analyst Adam Friedman was on hand to get the latest news and notes.
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Augustine is locked in with Notre Dame and will be taking his official visit the weekend of June 14. The three-star prospect continues to build a close relationship with fellow offensive line commits Owen Strebig and Will Black. He mentioned he is hoping to recruit wide receiver Derek Meadows to Notre Dame.
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A huge crowd of coaches gathered to watch Black workout and the Notre Dame commit was very impressive. He has a frame to play tackle or guard in college and demonstrated an athletic skill set that should allow him to have a short learning curve when he arrives in South Bend. Black is a much quicker and more powerful prospect that at the time of his previous in-person evaluation. On the recruiting front, Black is locked in with Notre Dame. He is very close with offensive line coach Joe Rudolph and has turned away the other programs that were maintaining contact with him.
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Bell is set to visit Rutgers on May 31 and Boston College on June 14. The St. Thomas more standout, who hopes to commit in June, is also in contact with Tennessee, Notre Dame and Penn State.
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Hebert will be entering the fall with something to prove. The Clemson commit’s junior season didn’t go as planned when he suffered a broken ankle but he is fully recovered and ready to go for his senior season. Hebert is solidly committed to the Tigers and is actively recruiting for them. Without stumbling or taking a second to think, Hebert quickly named offensive linemen David Sanders Jr. and Mal Waldrep as prospects he hopes to recruit to the Tigers. Both are expected to take official visits to Clemson the same weekend as Hebert.
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Like his teammate CJ Bell, Houston will check out Rutgers on May 31 and Boston College on June 14. The three-star receiver could be close to setting official visits with Duke and Wake Forest as well. He wants to commit on Sept. 9, right before his senior season.
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Johnson was timed at a 4.5-second 40-yard dash in front of the college coaches on Monday. The speedy and versatile receiver is looking at official visits to Rutgers on May 31 and Duke on June 21 and could schedule more depending on how his recruitment changes after this up-close look from college coaches.
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Long is solid in his Notre Dame pledge and has shifted his attention to recruiting other prospects to South Bend. His target is defensive back Mark Zackery. Long is looking forward to seeing Ivan Taylor and some of the other commits during his official visit. The Notre Dame coaching staff has been comparing Long to Kyle Hamilton, the former All-American who is currently an All-Pro safety for the Baltimore Ravens.
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Syracuse took a commitment from Pray back in March but not much was known about his game on the field. During his work out on Monday, the former basketball standout showed he has the requisite combination of size, strength, and coordination to justify a coach taking a shot on him. Pray hasn’t played much football so the learning curve will be steep but, thanks to his athletic profile, the pay off could be immense.
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Roche has intrigued college coaches throughout the recruiting cycle so the event on Monday was a big stage for him. Vanderbilt and West Virginia are just two of his top contenders at this point but that could change if more teams were to get involved. Roche will be planning out the rest of his offseason schedule in the coming week or two.