Sting Factor: Keon Keeley decommits from Notre Dame
When a major program loses a key recruit, Rivals.com takes a look at how big of a blow it is to the respective school, analyzing it from a local and national level. To quantify the “sting” of each decommitment, we assign a score from one to 10, with one being no big deal and 10 being a catastrophic hit.
RELATED: Keeley backs off his pledge to Irish
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THE STORYLINE
Keon Keeley committed to Notre Dame in the summer of 2021 before coach Brian Kelly left for LSU, before last season’s 11-win campaign, before a whole lot of stuff went down in the recruiting and college football world.
The five-star defensive end from Tampa (Fla.) Berkeley Prep said at the time of his pledge that “you can’t go wrong by choosing Notre Dame,” and “it’s everything I want.”
Keeley navigated the recruiting process brilliantly through his junior season, but as Alabama and others started to pursue him even harder (and he took a visit to Tuscaloosa this summer) the five-star decided Wednesday night to reopen his recruitment.
The significance? His decommitment moved Notre Dame from No. 1 to third in the team recruiting rankings as the Crimson Tide take over the top spot. If Keeley ends up playing at Alabama that will only add insult to injury.
Keeley becomes the third five-star prospect to back off his pledge so far this recruiting cycle, joining QB Malachi Nelson (Oklahoma to USC) and Brandon Inniss (Oklahoma to Ohio State) as the Tampa Berkeley Prep season is set to get underway this Friday.
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LOCAL REACTION
“Keeley was the crown jewel of Marcus Freeman’s first recruiting class, committing to Freeman when he was defensive coordinator in June 2021. Not only was Keeley Notre Dame’s first commit, he was also the only five-star in the class. And the Irish invested a lot of time, energy and resources in keeping him in the class for about 14 months, just for Keeley to go elsewhere.
“Players like Keeley don’t come through Notre Dame often. He would’ve been the first five-star defensive lineman to sign with the Irish since 2011, when they signed Stephon Tuitt and Ishaq Williams. Daelin Hayes — who played defensive line at ND — was classified as a linebacker in 2016. The Irish are also anticipating the loss of Isaiah Foskey to the NFL Draft after the season. It would’ve been a role Keeley had the chance to fill from day one.
“The timing of Keeley’s decommitment also puts Notre Dame in a challenging spot. The Irish no longer have a true edge rusher in the class, with only four months until the early signing window begins. And most of the top prospects in the class are already committed elsewhere. It leaves defensive line coach Al Washington with few options to recuperate a massive loss to Notre Dame’s recruiting class.” - Kyle Kelly, InsideNDSports.com
Sting Factor: 10
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NATIONAL REACTION
“There is no sugarcoating that Keeley’s de-commitment is a major loss for Notre Dame, and it substantially hurts the Irish recruiting class. His length, athleticism, playmaking ability and so much more stood out about Keeley on the field and he’s a high-character kid off it who looked like a perfect fit for what Freeman is looking for in his players. Keeley has the ability to be an immediate contributor wherever he goes, and it looked like he had superstar potential in South Bend.
But while it dramatically hurts, it’s not a back-breaker. Samuel M’Pemba remains an option and he might be more intrigued now. We shall see. Others could be options as well, and the transfer portal is a game-changer for immediate help. This is not good news at all for Notre Dame’s class, but the Irish are still loaded with a top-rated class and there are still many months to go before signing day.” - Adam Gorney, Rivals national recruiting director
Sting Factor: 8