Heat Check | Defense
The latest on Notre Dame's top defensive targets.
A few notes on two 2021 CBs
On a couple of cornerbacks: Checked in with a source and Deuce Harmon seems to be all but gone for the Irish at this point. Texas has been making a significant push at the four-star prospect, but Texas A&M remains the team to beat in this one. As it relates to Notre Dame, Harmon was supposed to be on campus for an unofficial visit in April, which would have likely led to an official visit later. That hurt as he's a kid who needed to visit campus and one Notre Dame needed to show how the program is different than those in Texas. Whether you believe Harmon not making it to campus is on the staff or the pandemic is up to you, but to pull a top kid out of Texas, you need to get him on campus and that doesn't look like it will happen here.Losing out here definitely hurts Notre Dame in terms of a quality player going somewhere else, but the addition of Philip Riley eases that pain, especially with Ryan Barnes trending to Notre Dame. If the Irish can lock down Barnes and say, Ceyair Wright, then I think that's a wash. I'd expect a decision in the next few weeks or potentially June/July for Harmon, but no date has been set as of now.--- When it comes to Dreyden Norwood, a source says it looks like he's focused on Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas A&M. Been trying to find out just how hard Notre Dame is pushing, but can't seem to find a concrete answer. My guess is Riley, Barnes and Wright might be that top group the Irish are looking at right now. We'll see. ---I believe 2021 Ryan Barnes would be Notre Dame's lowest-ranked commit if he joined the class, but I'm not too sure people would be upset about it. I'm told Barnes has remained in good contact with Notre Dame and the Irish very well could be his leader at this point. Clemson is a school, who has recruited him hard and he's seen Clemson, so it's not as if Notre Dame randomly found a low-rated three-star kid and we're hyping him up. I do believe Barnes would be a kid Notre Dame would feel comfortable letting commit similar to Jason Oyne and Philip Riley despite not being on campus for a recruiting visit. Barnes has family in the area, so he's been to Notre Dame's campus before, but hasn't seen all the bells and whistles. That's something in Notre Dame's favor as he knows what he'd be getting into in terms of location and campus.
ESPN Releases Top 300 for 2021
ESPN released its Top 300 prospects in the 2021 recruiting class and Notre Dame had six commitments included.
2021 CB Names Top 5
2021 Northside (Ark.) cornerback Dreyden Norwood released his top five on Monday. Notre Dame will battle it out with Arkansas, Georgia, Missouri and Oklahoma. Norwood's cousin, Tre, as we've mentioned was recruited by Notre Dame, but chose Kerry Cooks and Oklahoma over the Irish a few years ago. https://www.hudl.com/video/3/6392813/5dc894e85cb38e0d545eb64e
Heat Check | Defense 2021
The latest on Notre Dame's 2021 offers on the defensive side of the ball.