Weekend Notes
Garrett Dellinger’s first trip to South Bend last year was eventful as the elite 2021 Michigan offensive lineman left with an offer from Notre Dame. He enjoyed his return in January and is already eyeing a pair of dates to get back in the coming weeks.
Like many top targets on the Irish’s list, Dellinger has been looking at the primetime home game against USC on Oct. 12th as one possible date. But earlier this week, he told ISD that he is also looking at potentially getting back sooner, maybe as soon as next week for Notre Dame’s home opener against New Mexico.
Either way, Dellinger said he’s “definitely” going to be back this fall, which is a positive for a prospect who also has offers from Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Alabama and LSU among several others.
Also, Dellinger will surely see Notre Dame play in person multiple times this year as he’s already scheduled to be in Ann Arbor when the Irish play Michigan next month. In addition to the Midwestern schools, Dellinger is hoping to make a trip down South to see a game at either Alabama or LSU to see what that experience is like.
His teammate at Clarkston High School, 2021 offensive lineman Rocco Spindler, is another top Irish target who is looking for a date to get back to South Bend.
Spindler and Dellinger are close, but aren’t considered a package deal.
MEANWHILE, ONE TARGET IS LOCKED IN FOR UNM: While Dellinger is considering a trip to South Bend next week, another 2021 prospect, Jace Williams, tells ISD he will indeed be in town for the Irish’s opener against New Mexico.
The Michigan wide receiver currently has offers from schools like Michigan State, Nebraska, Boston College and Kentucky among others.
The 6-foot-4, 190-pound Williams, who was at Notre Dame’s spring game back in April, will be in East Lansing this weekend.
The Irish reached back out to Williams on Sept. 1st, inviting him to any game he wanted and he picked the first one he could.
“I like the school,” the Catholic Central High School standout told ISD. “I just like the environment around there. It’s a private Catholic school, so I love that. They have a good football team of course and a great coach. It’s just a great place to be.”
NEW 2021 NAME TO TRACK: Sept. 1st marks another tangible step in the recruiting process between prospects and schools as colleges can begin directly contacting student-athletes entering their junior years.
Prospects usually have a good idea of which schools have serious interest in them by now, but this provides another measuring stick. It also provides further insight into what the college recruiting boards look like as they reach out to prospects they weren’t previously tied to, at least not publicly.
While Notre Dame contacted dozens of prospects in the Class of 2021 we expected them to, the Irish also reached out to some new names to us.
Jerand Bradley is one of them.
The contact came as a surprise to him as well.
“It was crazy because I had never heard from them until (Sunday),” Bradley told Irish Sports Daily.
The wide receiver from Plano, Texas already owns lengthy scholarship list that includes schools like Texas Tech, Houston, Nebraska, Arkansas, Colorado Rutgers, Purdue, Iowa State and Kansas among others.
“It’s an extreme blessing, I just continue to work and stay humble,” he said.
The 6-foot-5, 195-pounder is still in the early stages of learning about Notre Dame, but his initial impressions of the school and program are positive.
“It’s a very good school for education and produces good athletes,” he said.
He doesn’t have a timeline for a decision, but does have an idea of what he’s looking for.
“Great education and a family feel.”
BUGS PUT BRUNELLE’S OFFICIAL IN THE AIR: Jay Brunelle and his St. John’s High School teammates aren’t getting much use out of the new lights that were put in at their field in Shrewsbury, Mass.
The discovery of mosquitoes carrying the EEE virus in the area have forced the school to change night games to afternoon games. The state is spraying the area where they infected mosquitoes were found, but St. John’s isn’t scheduled to have a night game now until after the first frost.
Brunelle had been planning to get to South Bend for the Irish’s game against USC for his official visit, but there’s a chance the game his team is supposed to play that Friday night will get shifted to Saturday, forcing him to reschedule that trip.
Regardless, Brunelle remains all-in with the Irish and the Irish have continued to express that they’re all-in with Brunelle.
ADD ONE FOR USC: Meanwhile, 2022 Florida athlete Terian Williams tells ISD he will be back in South Bend for another visit for the USC game.
The 5-foot-11, 170-pounder was in South Bend for the Irish’s spring game in April and returned for Irish Invasion in June.
Williams has seen a rise in his recruiting profile, recently adding offers from Florida and Florida State to a list that already included Kentucky and Tennessee.
SAME STUFF, DIFFERENT DAY: ISD recently spoke with a high school head coach familiar with Ohio State’s recruiting efforts over the past few years.
Urban Meyer was well-known for riding his assistant coaches hard when it came to recruiting…like very, very hard.
New Ohio State head coach Ryan Day has a different personality and, by all accounts, he’s not going to try to pretend like he’s Meyer, taking a more laid-back approach in some areas.
But not all areas and recruiting is one where he doesn’t seem to be softening.
“Oh no,” this high school coach laughed. “He’s riding those guys’ *****. He’s following Urban’s lead there.”
It makes sense and it’s hard to argue with the results as the Buckeyes currently sit in the top five for both their 2020 and 2021 recruiting classes.