Keon Keeley

Christian reported some Notre Dame targets visiting Columbus earlier this week and here is a full list of who will be in The Shoe this weekend. It's quite the list as you'd expect. 2023 DE Keon Keeley (OV) - ND Offer DE Matayo Uiagalelei (OV) - ND Offer DE Damon Wilson - OVCB Cameron Calhoun (Cincinnati commit) 2024 RB Corey Smith - ND Offer RB Aneyas Williams - ND OfferRB Sam Williams-DixonWR Mylan Graham - ND OfferWR Joshisa Trader WR Jeremiah Smith - ND Offer WR Ryan Wingo - ND Offer TE Christian Bentancur TE Brady Prieskorn - ND Offer TE Elias Rudolph OL Donovan Harbour OL Ian Moore DE KingJoseph Edwards DE Brian Robinson - ND OfferDE Nigel Smith II - ND Offer LB Sammy Brown - ND Offer LB Anthony Speca - ND Offer LB Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa - ND Offer CB Terhyon Nichols - ND Offer CB Aaron Scott Jr. - ND Offer CB Bryce West - ND Offer S Peyton Woodyard - ND Offer ATH Khalil Bolden - ND Offer ATH Brauntae Johnson - ND Offer ATH Garrett Stover - ND Offer 2025QB Ryan Montgomery - ND OfferQB Tavien St. Clair RB Gideon Davidson RB Jordon Davison - ND Offer TE Landon Pace OL David Sanders LB Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng - ND Offer LB Jadon Perlotte S DJ Pickett 2023 Ohio State Commits QB Brock Glenn WR Brandon Inniss WR Noah Rogers WR Bryson Rodgers TE Jelani Thurman OL Luke Montgomery OL Joshua Padilla OL Austin Siereveld DE Jason Moore DL Will Smith Jr. LB Arvell Reese CB Kayin Lee CB Calvin Simpson-Hunt DB Malik Hartford DB Jermaine Mathews 2024 Commits QB Dylan Raiola 2025 CommitsDB Jontae Gilbert

2023 Berkeley Prep (Fla.) defensive end commit Keon Keeley has officially decommitted from Notre Dame. It's a move that's not surprising and one Notre Dame had fought through many storms to get to this point. A few things. - I continue to believe if this was up to Keon, Notre Dame is where he wants to be at the end of the day. He's seen how he fits at Notre Dame and how he doesn't fit at other programs. - I don't believe this was up to Keon at the end of the day. I think folks around him have gotten into his head on various topics and have put a ton of soft pressure on him over the last six months. Is it right or wrong? That's up to you to decide. I'm not sure people can fully grasp how much pressure some kids are under when choosing a school as it's tough to deal with as everyone wants to get into your head. To this point, Keeley's recruitment was probably a little more intense than most in some areas and it's definitely been weighing heavy on his shoulders, which is unfortunate for Notre Dame as the five-star is everything a head coach could want in a recruit. - I also believe it was a situation where Keeley has somewhat isolated himself from many people in his life as he deals with this pressure. It's not healthy, but I do think decommitting will help free him up in that aspect. - Notre Dame understood they would likely have some drama by taking early commitments. They were fine being the leader and fighting for elite kids. That's college football. I also believe they worked with Keeley (and Peyton Bowen) as it related to their visits to other programs as long as they were unofficial visits. As you saw with Justyn Rhett, once a prospect set up an official visit, Notre Dame no longer considered him committed. Following Keeley's visit to Alabama, it became clear official visits were in play and Notre Dame stood its ground - even with perhaps the nation's top prospect. Notre Dame isn't willing to compromise its class for one player. If you look back to a few years ago, Clemson did a similar thing with the nation's top player in Korey Foreman. The five-star edge wanted to take official visits and Clemson has a strong stance on that for its commits. Foreman decommitted and then took his visits before eventually signing with USC. Notre Dame has been willing to play the game, but this is also a firm statement moving forward. - As it relates to Notre Dame's recruiting board, they have been evaluating defensive ends since the start of July when the staff broke off for vacation. They have offered new names to play with Keeley - and now fill that void. Notre Dame will go after other defensive ends aggressively from this point forward. - LSU commit Joshua Mickens is a name we've spoken about and folks have asked about. Notre Dame has been in contact, but Mickens hasn't really shown any interest in backing off his commitment to LSU. It's one Notre Dame should stay on as the longer it gets from his commitment, then there is potential interest could pick up. - Another name Notre Dame has dug around on is Tennessee commit Chandavian Bradley, who was the first recruit to visit South Bend following the COVID dead period ending last summer. That said, I believe Bradley is more than happy with his commitment to Tennessee. - Samuel M'Pemba has been a name on the board for years, but it seems like Georgia and Miami have a sizeable lead on Notre Dame at this point. Notre Dame could be third, but at this point, it doesn't look like they will make up enough ground. We'll see what happens if he shows up on his official visit for the Clemson game. And as always, we'll keep you updated on the latest as it relates to Keeley and the board moving forward.pic.twitter.com/hct6RYAdCB— 𝐊𝐞𝐨𝐧 𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐲 5⭐️ (@keon_keeley) August 18, 2022 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Guinness Pocket T-Shirt

Now that the dust has settled on summer recruiting, ISD's Jamie Uyeyama takes a look at the holes left to fill in the 2023 class for Notre Dame