Luca Puccinelli

Updates are flowing in from South Bend following Saturday's Blue-Gold Game.

After a visit for a game in the fall, 2024 Virginia tight end Luca Puccinelli is excited to get back to South Bend for the Irish's annual spring game.

Thursday will be another busy day on the recruiting trail for the Notre Dame staff and it starts with head coach Marcus Freeman. Per a source, Freeman will be headed to the Northeast to conduct an in-home visit with 2022 offensive line signee Ty Chan. The Lawrence Academy (Mass.) star inked with the Irish in December and this will be a good opportunity for Freeman to establish more of a relationship with the four-star prospect. Freeman will also check on several prospects in the area. 2023 Thayer Academy (Mass.) offensive lineman Samson Okunlola was offered in April and his name hasn't been brought up too much, but Freeman is expected to make a stop to see how he's progressed and to potentially help further the four-star prospect to make the trip to South Bend. Offensive GA Trevor Mendelson is also expected to join Freeman to see the offensive linemen as he played a role with Tommy Rees to help ease any concerns Chan had when Brian Kelly left for LSU. 2023 Catholic Memorial (Mass.) defensive end Boubacar Traore is a Boston College commit, but Notre Dame offered in October and is another prospect Freeman is expected to check on. We also believe Freeman will be stopping by Buckingham Browne & Nichols School (Mass.) to check on 2023 receiver Ronan Hanafin. The three-star receiver visited Notre Dame for the Navy game and will be back on campus Jan. 29th for Junior Day. Central Catholic (Mass.) linebacker Preston Zinter is another name we are expecting Freeman to check on as the four-star prospect has made his way to South Bend a couple times in recent months. If Notre Dame pushes for either prospects, the Irish will have a good chance to land both. Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees will be headed back to Michigan on Thursday per a source. 2023 five-star quarterback Dante Moore has been a hot name on the board and Rees will make a stop to check on him. 2024 quarterback CJ Carr has made it to campus twice since June and Rees is expected to stop at Saline (Mich.) to make sure he knows he's wanted in South Bend. Carr blew up the All-American Bowl Combine earlier this month and is starting to become a national name in the 2024 class. Tight ends coach John McNulty is expected to be in Virginia. 2024 Luca Puccinelli is already 6-foot-7, 225 pounds and he's someone we expect McNulty to check on. Puccinelli visited Notre Dame for camp and then returned for the Navy game. Hopewell High School will also host McNulty as he'll be there to evaluate 2024 athlete Kesean Henderson. You may have heard of his brother, TreVeyon, who just finished his freshman season at Ohio State. Henderson holds early offers from Maryland, Old Dominion, Pitt, South Carolina, Virginia and Virginia Tech. Per a source, Mike Mickens will head to STL to De Smet (Mo.) the home of 2023 cornerback target Christian Gray. The four-star prospect told ISD earlier this week he'll make it to Junior Day later this month, but he also received an offer from LSU that will shake his recruitment up a bit. Brian Kelly made a big-time hire in as Robert Steeples will coach cornerbacks at LSU. Steeples was the former head coach at De Smet before leaving last year for a job with the Minnesota Vikings. Gray and Steeples are extremely close, so it wouldn't be a shock to see Gray get to Baton Rouge. Notre Dame continues to be in a good spot with Gray as he loves the Notre Dame coaching staff and has become close with 2023 commits Drayk Bowen and Peyton Bowen. A source stated defensive GA Mike Moon will be making a trip to DeMatha Catholic (Md.) to get the latest on 2023 four-star defensive end Jason Moore, who continues to be high on Notre Dame. Moore visited Notre Dame in the fall and left with a positive impression as did his mother and aunt. Moon is also expected to make it to Archbishop Carroll (D.C.) to check on the most unique athletes in the 2023 class in Nyckoles Harbor. Harbor could play receiver, tight end, defensive end, linebacker or even safety for some programs. The 6-foot-5, 225-pounder ran not one, not two, but three 10.3 times in the 100m in 2021. 2023 University Lab (La.) linebacker Jaiden Ausberry told ISD earlier this week he'll make it back to Notre Dame for Junior Day and Irish analyst Nick Lezynski is expected to drop in on Thursday. Ausberry is high on Notre Dame, but he has strong LSU ties as his dad played and currently works for the university. That said, the four-star prospect is very open to leaving the state as his brother, Austin, showed in the 2022 cycle by signing with Auburn. I know some asked about my statement of University Lab being across the street from LSU. Here's what I meant by that: