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Notre Dame Football Recruiting

Recruiting Week In Review

August 17, 2019
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Written by Joe Bradshaw

The Notre Dame football team has gone 22-4 the last two years and recruiting has benefited from their on-field success. Recruiting has also benefited from a staff that does an outstanding job of identifying players that have the tools to be successful at Notre Dame and then bringing those players into the fold. Ironically, that process really took off after the disastrous 2016-17 4-8 season and has continued unabated since then. As a result, the 2019-20 Irish football team may be the most talented and athletic since the halcyon days of Lou Holtz.

In the world of college football, though, programs that rest on their laurels are doomed to failure and Note Dame has certainly not done that. The verbal commitments in the Class of 2020 are a very strong group that is currently ranked in the top ten by most recruiting services. The Irish also currently have five Class of 2021 verbal commitments and are continuing to work very hard on that class as well. Last week Irish Sports Daily reported on two highly coveted recruits in the Class of 2021 that Notre Dame is recruiting. What have you been missing by not being a member of Irish Sports Daily?

Donovan Edwards‍, RB, 5-11, 193, West Bloomfield High School, West Bloomfield, MI is a highly ranked member of the Class of 2021 that holds scholarship offers from a who’s who of college football powerhouses including Notre Dame, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Florida State, Florida, Miami, Oklahoma State, Oregon and many others. Any player that good and that close to South Bend is certain to garner his fair share of Notre Dame attention and Edwards certainly has. At this time of year though, the four-star running back is more focused on his junior season than he is on recruiting.

“I believe we should be pretty good,” he said of his high school team.

While his personal goal is to rush for 1000 yards, his team goal is a state championship. In order to achieve that he believes that his team must remain disciplined.

“Staying focused because there are a lot of distractions, so just staying focused,” Edwards explained.

Edwards attended Michigan’s annual BBQ on the last weekend of July.

“It was good,” he shared. “It’s the hometown state, they show a lot of love. I have a lot of love for them.”

He claims that he doesn’t have any favorites at the moment. He’s been to Notre Dame in the past and hopes to return.

“I’m trying to go back up there to catch a game,” he said.

Edwards is being recruited by Notre Dame Running Backs Coach Lance Taylor.

“He was just telling me he can’t wait to recruit me,” he said. “They always have a good football team. They always make it far playoff-wise, bowl-wise. It’s just a great place to be around; you know, great academics.”

Edwards has a goal of visiting several schools this fall in order to come up with a list of favorites by May of 2020. He has some factors in mind of what he’ll be looking for in his final college decision.

“For one, if I could play right away or maybe redshirt and play the next year, player development, building relationships with coaches and academics.”

The Irish had to look much farther west to find Ceyair Wright‍, CB, 6-0, 170, Loyola High School, Los Angeles, CA. He recently got a message from his head coach to call Notre Dame Defensive Backs Coach Todd Lyght which he did.

“He was just saying that he liked my film and that I fit the bill of the type of player they like to offer and said the time was right,” he remembered.

The Class of 2021 prospect admitted that he was “extremely excited” about the Irish offer.

“Notre Dame is such a prestigious school,” he said. “Just to be given that opportunity from a school like that means a lot.”

In addition to Notre Dame, Wright holds offers from schools like USC, Oregon, Arizona, Cal, Washington State, Nebraska, BYU, Ole Miss and numerous others.

“It’s just really humbling,” he said of his early offers. “It just reminds me every time that I have to keep working. A lot of people don’t have these great opportunities.”

Wright was very impressed with Lyght.

“He was really cool,” he shared. “I really like him.”

At this point, Wright is looking to get to South Bend for a visit.

“Hopefully, I get to go to one of their games and maybe I can go up there sometime in the spring,” he said. “We’ll see, but I definitely want to see a game. I really want to see the campus. I’ve heard the campus is really nice and really beautiful, so I want to see what it’s like up there.”

Wright’s visits have been confined to state schools thus far, but he plans to change that in the coming months.

“Now that I have a lot of offers from schools, I definitely want to get out and check them out,” he said.

Wright’s speed and attitude stood out to Lyght on his film.

“Coach Lyght mentioned that he liked that I was really smooth in my film,” he recalled. “He also said that he likes that I like to tackle.”

Wright remains wide open at this point in his recruiting.

“All of my options are open right now,” he shared. “I haven’t decided at all on anything.”

When Wright decides to cut his list he knows what’s going to be the top priority.

“Definitely education,” he said. “That’s a big thing for me. I want to go to a school that has a strong alumni base, a place where it’ll be a decision that puts me in a great position after football.”

These two summaries represent just a sample of the Notre Dame football recruiting information available each week on Irish Sports Daily.

 
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