Palaie Gaoteote

At The Opening in Oregon last week, wide receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown and Kevin Austin Jr. made strong impressions on just about everybody, especially the guys throwing them the ball. "That's easy," five-star California quarterback Matt Corral said when asked to talk about St. Brown, his Alpha Menace teammate for the week. "Amon-Ra is probably the most dominant receiver I've ever played with besides Colby Parkinson and Michael Pittman," said Corral, referring to a pair of former Oaks Christian teammates, who are now at Stanford and USC respectively. Corral said receivers like St. Brown make the quarterback's job easier. "He's confident in his ability," the quarterback said. "He's aggressive as a receiver. He won't let you mess up. If you have a bad ball, he'll knock it down. He's an incredible route-runner. He's really an explosive receiver and the kid catches everything. "When you have confidence in your receivers, you can make any throw. It just makes your job easier when you have confidence in the guys around you." Corral pointed to St. Brown's swagger as another positive. "Personally, as a quarterback, you can't do that, but that's him," said Corral. "That's Amon-Ra. He's not like that off the field at all. He's a completely humble kid off the field, but that's his style on the field. He's a completely different kid on the field." Dorian T-Robinson served as Alpha Menace's other quarterback and agreed with much of what Corral had to say. "It makes my job a whole lot easier when you've got a guy who's that versatile," T-Robinson said of St. Brown. "He's definitely a receiver I can trust and if I need somebody to go to, I'd definitely go to him. "He really picks the team up. He's really a momentum-changer, so that's a big thing in a receiver." Meanwhile, Trevor Lawrence, who ISD has ranked as the number one quarterback in the country, teamed with Austin on Savage Pro. "He's really smart," Lawrence said of the Florida wideout. "He knows the game. He knows what he should be doing. He understands his role. Even if he might not be getting the ball that play, he knows what he's got to do. He doesn't take plays off. I think he had one or two drops the whole time, so he had a really good tournament. He had a bunch of big catches, he was really good." Lawrence has his own process for evaluating receivers and Austin earned high marks. "The first thing I notice is if they complain; complain when they don't get the ball, complain if it's a bad throw or anything like that, that's the first thing I notice," Lawrence explained. "Then, just how good you are, how you run your routes and how much you know, how you're trying to get open. "I think he's really good at all of those." Clemson made a late run at Austin, but he's no longer considering the Tigers, which is a little disappointing for Lawrence, who's committed to Clemson. "It'd be nice to have a guy you can count on who is reliable and I see him like that." PRESSURE IS ON AMON-RA: Equanimeous St. Brown and Osiris St. Brown were both heavily-recruited wideouts out of high school, but there's something different about the recruitment of their youngest brother and it's obvious to those closest to him. Amon-Ra has turned his phone off altogether in the past following a barrage of phone calls, text messages and direct messages, saying he wants to see if he can survive without a phone at all. He's not interested in much of the fluff of the recruiting process and has even decided against college visits for a variety of reasons, but at the same time, he understands finding the school that will offer him what he wants most may require him to take a close look at how each school treats him. What Amon-Ra St. Brown wants in a college is really pretty simple. He wants to go to a school where he'll be able to get on the field as soon as possible, do damage and then go on to the NFL. If he doesn't feel a college is going to offer him those three things, he will not be going there, no matter how much he likes the school or the coaches. We're told he continues to be pretty open, but that the schools he talks about the most are Notre Dame, Ohio State, Stanford, USC and Michigan, not necessarily in that order. USC is working its way back into the picture after not showing nearly as much interest as other schools earlier in the process. The Trojans could also be aided by the decision of St. Brown's friend and current teammate at Mater Dei, 2019 quarterback JT Daniels. The two would like to play together at the next level, but that's always a complicated situation and even more so with prospects in different classes. That being said, if St. Brown has a good indication Daniels is likely headed to USC, that would certainly help the Trojans. As for Notre Dame, any regular reader of ISD Intel would know Equanimeous' lack of impact as a freshman with the Irish didn't sit well with St. Brown or his family. That's a storyline that goes back to Osiris' recruitment. That being said, Equanimeous' success last season wasn't lost on anybody in the St. Brown household and as we've said since the new offensive staff members arrived in South Bend, the expectation is that Equanimeous is on his way to a huge season in 2017. It took offensive coordinator Chip Long all of one sentence to explain his view on that to Equanimeous. New wide receivers coach Del Alexander, with his youth and experience playing the position, has been a welcomed addition for Equanimeous. And not surprisingly, so has the new strength staff, led by Matt Balis. Also, the prestige and television contract are things Amon-Ra understands. He knows if he goes to Notre Dame, he'll be seen. If Equanimeous has the kind of season many expect him to and the Irish are able to convince Amon-Ra that he will have every chance to get on the field as a freshman, Notre Dame's usage of receivers in 2015 won't have a huge impact on this race. Also worth noting, St. Brown's father has been very instrumental in the development of each of the three boys and certainly has a big personality. That being said, we sincerely doubt any suggestion that he is "steering the ship" with Amon-Ra. In fact, given what we mentioned above about the pressure Amon-Ra is currently dealing with, his father sees himself as an escape for his son to get away from football and recruiting. AUSTIN REMAINS FOCUSED: Kevin Austin Jr. has had the same top four for some time now with a decision still expected "soon." Even with all of the attention from the fans and coaches at Notre Dame, Duke, Miami and Tennessee, Austin has managed to remain grounded and not overwhelmed by any of it. As we mentioned above, Clemson made a late pitch to Austin, but we're told it was simply too late. Relationships are huge with Austin and despite the current status of the Tigers' program and everything they have going on, he was already comfortable with the relationships he'd formed with coaches at each of his finalists. Loyalty may have also played a role in why Austin never even truly expressed an interest in visiting Clemson. The biggest factor for Austin remains which school offers him the best opportunities for life after football. He goes back and forth between wanting to major in Engineering and Business. Either way, we're told Notre Dame's Associate Director of Academic Services for Student-Athletes Adam Sargent made a huge impression on Austin and his family during their visit to South Bend for the Irish's spring game back in April. If we had to guess, we still think Notre Dame leads this race followed by Duke, Miami and then Tennessee. SALYER SERIOUS ABOUT NOTRE DAME: Jamaree Salyer is the kind of prospect who could go to virtually any school of his choosing, so being one of the few schools left on his list, which Notre Dame is, is quite the accomplishment. In addition to our interview with the five-star offensive lineman in Oregon earlier this week, we had a chance to speak with Salyer privately. In a setting that offers recruits a chance to be a little more candid than they can with several reporters and cameras surrounding them, Salyer assured us the Irish are indeed contenders. We asked Salyer what sparked his plans to return to South Bend last month for his third unofficial visit. While we expected to hear the Notre Dame coaching staff had ramped up its efforts to recruit him, his answer was perhaps even more encouraging. "I really was curious," he told us. Again, with a prospect of Salyer's stature the fact that Notre Dame was still on his mind as he narrows his list down to a handful of schools is a good sign. An even better sign for the Irish was the quickness with which Salyer nodded when asked if that trip improved their standing, adding, "Oh yeah." The importance of Salyer getting back to South Bend without former teammate Andrew Thomas, who is now at Georgia, has been mentioned to us repeatedly by multiple source as a big deal. Salyer said current Notre Dame offensive lineman Quenton Nelson, who served as a counselor during the week, did not come across too strong with his own recruiting pitches. Still, every time we looked over, it seemed Nelson was speaking with Salyer if he wasn't talking with one of the other Irish defensive line commits. The other thing to keep in mind is that Salyer has some true pro-Notre Dame people around him at his school and he's well aware of their feelings. We want to stress the fact that we're nowhere near projecting Salyer to Notre Dame and schools like Georgia, Clemson, Ohio State and perhaps even Stanford could be in better position than the Irish right now. But the Irish are certainly moving in the right direction here and a win against the Bulldogs, during Salyer's next trip to South Bend for an official visit, could be the kind of thing that puts Notre Dame in an even better position. IRISH IN RUNNING FOR BUSH OFFICIAL: Tommy Bush won't be narrowing his list of schools down anytime soon. In fact, the 2018 Texas wideout fully expects to have well over five schools still under consideration as summer turns into fall, which is why he'll use his five allotted official visits to see schools that are a bit farther away. Notre Dame would fall into that category. Irish wide receivers coach Del Alexander has made a strong impression so far, which has Bush interested along with Brian Kelly's background as an offensive coach and the history and tradition of the school. TAKACS WOULD WELCOME ADDITIONAL TIGHT END: When George Takacs committed to Notre Dame last month, the initial impression was that the Florida prospect would be the only tight end in the class, but the Irish never ceased their pursuit of guys like Jeremy Ruckert of New York and Georgia's Tommy Tremble. That doesn't bother Takacs in the least who sees a potential pairing of himself and Tremble or Ruckert as a positive. "It's not the kind of situation where we'd come in and one guy would be the starter and one guy would be the backup," he added. "It'd be kind of a 1A and 1B. I do different things than them. "I'm more of a blocking tight end. I can run routes and stuff, but I'm the bigger body and that kind of thing and they're both smaller and more athletic, so I think we'd definitely complement each other well." Ruckert was in Oregon for The Opening along with Takacs. "I've been talking to Jeremy a lot this weekend," he said. "I haven't really talked to Tremble at all, but I know the Notre Dame staff wants him." Tremble announced a top six on Wednesday that included Notre Dame, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, UCLA and Fresno State. As we've said for months, the fact that Tremble's father played for the Bulldogs doesn't give Georgia any sort of edge in this race. In fact, at this point, we think Notre Dame is the school to beat. BABB SEEMS LIKE A LONGSHOT: 2018 St. Louis wide receiver Kamryn Babb had several impressive reps during the event and said the right things about Notre Dame during interviews, mentioning the school's football tradition and how the academics set players up for life after the game. He also noted how multiple members of the Irish coaching staff have been recruiting him hard, but didn't mention any by name in multiple interviews. He also said he wants to see the Irish turn things around before he makes his choice. "I think that's a big thing because in college football, you want to play on the biggest stage, national championships," he said. "Seeing them start winning, that's the same with every other program I'm looking at, just want to see them this season, see how they're doing before I make this big decision." We'll upgrade Notre Dame's chances if Babb does ever make a return trip to South Bend, but until then, we think the Irish are way behind schools like Ohio State, Michigan and Oklahoma. SIMON SAYS HE WOULDN'T SAY THAT: For months, it's seemed like a clear Notre Dame-Michigan battle for Shayne Simon, but the elite New Jersey prospect doesn't see it that way. Asked if he would say the Irish and the Wolverines have an edge on the other schools chasing him, Simon said, "No, I wouldn't say that." UCLA is one school that could make a move in this recruitment. "I got to visit out there in the spring and I had a great time out there," he said. "I love the coaching staff and the comfortability there." Simon's mother attended Michigan, but he said that doesn't give the Wolverines any sort of advantage. "Not necessarily with her being there because it was a different time, a different era and I'm a different person," he said. "But I visited there and I feel comfortable there too." Simon made a second visit to South Bend last month and got all of his questions answered. With high school teammates Jayson and Justin Ademilola committed to Notre Dame and a former teammate, Brandon Wimbush, set to start at quarterback for the Irish this fall along with a great understanding of the Rover position Notre Dame is recruiting him to play, there isn't much left for him to learn or see with the Irish. "We'll just see how the dice fall," he said. "We'll talk to my parents about it, we'll lay it down more and more and we'll see." In addition to the St. Peter's Prep guys, Simon got a chance to spend time with Irish commits Phil Jurkovec and Derrik Allen during his most recent visit to South Bend. Notre Dame's current message is simple. "They want me to come in and be a part of the class. They have a great class already and they feel my position can come in and help out with the team." LAMB LOOKING HARD AT FINALISTS: You wouldn't be able to tell by talking to him, but Jack Lamb has a pretty tough decision in front of him. The 2018 California linebacker has narrowed his list down to five schools and just about all of them have their positives. Both of his parents attended Penn State. While those connections may have helped the Nittany Lions get into the race, if he chooses Penn State, it'll be completely his own decision. UCLA provides a similar amount of comfort being the in-state school in the mix and the school his sister currently attends. Additionally, there is a natural Penn State tie through longtime Nittany Lion assistant Tom Bradley, who is now on the Bruins' staff. Washington head coach Chris Petersen has made a huge impression on both Lamb and his family, who see him as a special person. And then there's Notre Dame, the offer he wanted and received before finalizing his favorites. Lamb's trip to South Bend last month will likely play heavily in his decision. Coming from a huge college football family, the tradition of Notre Dame wasn't lost on them. But while Lamb knew plenty about Notre Dame's history coming into the trip, it was the coaching staff that made the biggest impression on him. Notre Dame defensive coordinator Mike Elko was described to us as "brilliant" for his ability to simplify concepts, teach and be demanding without being overbearing. That approach seems to dovetail nicely with the approach of linebacker coach Clark Lea, who was described to us by one source close to Lamb as "an engineer." Lea's approach to building athletes on the technical side of things was important as was the chance to sit down with the coaches and talk about exactly where Lamb would fit in the scheme. Whatever the choice, we can say with certainty that it will be Lamb's and Lamb's alone. TINDALL TAKING ND SERIOUSLY: We didn't realize how hard South Carolina linebacker Channing Tindall was looking at Notre Dame until he popped up on campus for an unofficial visit last month. Like Lamb, Lea also made a very strong impression on Tindall. One person we spoke with said, "That's exactly who he is," when we mentioned the other source referring to Lea as "an engineer." This person also agreed that Lea has a totally unique way of looking at and coaching the position, which is intriguing. Tindall and his family were already impressed with the tradition and academics at Notre Dame before the visit and the Irish are definitely in the mix coming out of it. He'll make a second round of visits to his top schools, including Notre Dame, in the coming weeks and months to try to create some separation between the schools. It's hard to say exactly what the Irish will need to show Tindall on his return trip, but they're off to a good start. A separate source who spent time around Tindall this week feels the Irish have a really good shot.McGRONE MAKING PLANS TO RETURN AS WELL: Cameron McGrone was back in South Bend for Irish Invasion last month and following an impressive visit to Michigan a couple weeks back, Notre Dame is working to get the Indianapolis linebacker back in town either later this month or in early-August. This is yet another recruitment where Lea is making his mark as he's maintained solid communication with McGrone's camp. Notre Dame definitely seems excited about the possibility of hosting him again while McGrone is looking forward to getting a chance to see the Irish practice. The same source who feels good about the Irish's chances with Tindall is less optimistic on McGrone, saying Michigan seems to have the current edge, but Notre Dame is hoping for a chance to change that. UYEYAMA 'OPENS' NOTEBOOK ON OPPONENTS: It's always fun to get out to The Opening and evaluate players who could develop into future stars at Notre Dame, but not quite as fun to see the players who will be starring for the Irish's opponents in the next few seasons. It might seem like it is a long way away from now, but it's going to be a very highly-anticipated game when Clemson comes to South Bend to play Notre Dame in 2020. It will be the teams' first matchup since the monsoon of 2015 and Clemson should be as loaded with talent at that time. Five-star quarterback Trevor Lawrence is probably going to be behind center for the Tigers and he absolutely lived up to the hype he came into Oregon with. The only quarterback better than him was Elite 11 MVP Justin Fields and he can match him throw for throw. Lawrence is a big-time athlete who can make just about every throw asked of him and do it accurately. Five-star defensive lineman Xavier Thomas will be also be a junior for Clemson at that time and he was borderline unblockable at The Opening. Notre Dame offensive line target Will Craig was selected to the Final 5, but he was completely outclassed when asked to block Thomas in one-on-ones. He is college-ready right now and could be getting Top 5 NFL Draft pick buzz by that time. The Irish have Florida State on the schedule again in 2018 and 2021 and they'll have to hope that cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. and linebacker Amari Gainer are off to the NFL by the second meeting. I didn't know much about Gainer before the camp, but I thought he was one of the best coverage linebackers I watched. I was a big fan of Samuel Jr. prior to seeing him in person in Oregon and I left there an even bigger fan of his game. No slot corner, possibly no corner period, challenged Amon-Ra St. Brown as much as he did. They were going back and forth with pass breakups for Samuel and big catches for St. Brown. I think he will play in 2018 for the Seminoles and likely make an impact early. These two teams could also add plenty more uncommitted talent as well like five-star guard Jamaree Salyer (Clemson), five-star cornerback Patrick Surtain Jr. (FSU), and four-star cornerback Houston Griffith (FSU). All three proved to be outstanding at the event and it would particularly sting Irish fans if Salyer and Griffith ended up playing against, instead for, Notre Dame. If you're looking for good news, there is some. While I thought Michigan safety commit Myles Sims and his freakish length did well when I saw him, I wasn't overly impressed with the Wolverines' other commitments. Center Emil Ekiyor was solid, but played the role of fake tough guy late after the whistle too often rather than dominating during the actual rep. Running back Christian Turner and defensive back Gemon Green wouldn't be there if they weren't good prospects, but neither of them stood out. Last year, USC had five-star Stephen Carr shine as one of the most versatile players in attendance, but there wasn't a Trojan commit that was as good as he was this time around. Center Justin Dedich looks like he will be a good one for them, but five-star linebacker Palaie Gaoteote did not make an impact. I had one analyst even ask me if he even showed up to the event. This isn't a camp that suits his style of play, but I remember current USC linebacker Cameron Smith being really good here and I couldn't say that about Gaoteote, a player who I really like on film. A couple of USC targets from schools who traditionally send kids to play for the Trojans were ballhawks, though. Safety Aashari Crosswell (Long Beach Poly) and Bryan Addison (Junipero Serra) were constantly making plays. That is something to keep in mind down the road. More good news for Irish fans? No Stanford commits even competed at the camp and I'm not sure there is anyone who seems like they are headed there. The best possible scenario for them would be Amon-Ra St. Brown, which would be a nightmare for Notre Dame if it ends up that way. The only thing worse than not having him wear blue and gold would be for him to play against the Irish the next three or four years. He is a special prospect whowill likely contribute in a big way immediately no matter what school he signs with.