Recruiting Week In Review

Written by Joe Bradshaw

Notre Dame’s final push for 2017 recruits will resume in earnest on January 12th, 2017 when the latest dead period ends. By that time, many of the questions surrounding Irish staff changes will be settled as Notre Dame looks to finish strong.

Clearly, a 4-8 campaign and numerous coaching and staff changes present obstacles to finishing strong. For the Irish to do so they will simply need to outwork the competition and impress some recently offered recruits. 

Last week, Irish Sports Daily reported on two prospects, one that has been on Notre Dame’s recruiting radar but was previously committed to a rival and another that just recently received his Irish scholarship offer. What have you been missing by not being a member of Irish Sports Daily?

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Antjuan Simmons, LB, 6-1, 210, Pioneer High School, Ann Arbor, MI was committed to Ohio State until just a few weeks ago when he decommitted and re-opened his recruitment. Simmons immediately began hearing from not only the Notre Dame coaching staff but also from a number of 2017 commits. 

“Notre Dame has been in contact a lot,” Simmons told ISD. “All the commits have been hitting me up and stuff. They are definitely aggressively recruiting me. It’s cool they want me to be part of the family and it’s real comfortable.”

Though he ended his verbal commitment to the Buckeyes, Simmons acknowledged that he had become very close to many Ohio State commits. He’s looking for that same atmosphere in his final choice. 

“I want to be comfortable around all the guys,” he shared. “I want to play with guys that are like myself. I want to play with guys that are hungry, trying to get better, trying to get to the next level and want to be successful."

Notre Dame’s coaches have visited Simmons since his decommitment and their pitch to him has been simple and clear. 

“They really want me,” he said. “They want me to play the Will spot, the same position Jaylon Smith played.”

While Notre Dame and Michigan State seem to be the two battling it out for Simmons’ signature, a western school has also thrown its hat into the ring. 

“I did go out to Arizona last weekend,” he said. “It was really different than the Midwest schools.”

While Simmons has not set any additional official visits, there is one school that intends to visit. 

“I will definitely be getting down to Notre Dame for an official visit,” he said. “I haven’t set an official date yet, but I am definitely getting down there.”

Simmons has a very clear idea of what he’s looking for in his final destination. 

“It’s really going to come down to if schools have my majors, which are Kinesiology and Special Education,” he explained. “I want to do both but some schools only have one, so it’d be the one I want to do the most or what school will allow me to do both.”

Simmons plans to announce his decision either near or on Signing Day.

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Evan Fields, S, 6-2, 190, Midwest City High School, Oklahoma City, OK is also nearing a college decision but he has received far less recruiting attention from the Irish than has Simmons; at least until recently. Notre Dame offered the three-star safety a football scholarship less than two weeks ago but quickly vaulted into his final four.

“Coach (Todd) Lyght, the defensive backs coach, came to my school and saw me and then told me afterward,” Fields said of Irish offer. “I was excited. That’s a big school, it’s big time so I was excited.” 

Though Notre Dame only recently began recruiting him, Fields has already begun to familiarize himself with the Irish.

“I know it’s a Catholic school,” he said. “It’s very prestigious in terms of academics. You could get a lot of good opportunities there.” 

Fields final four consists of Notre Dame, Kansas State, Arizona State and Oregon. He has already visited Kansas State and Arizona State and has locked down the date of his Irish official visit. He has yet to schedule a visit to Oregon who offered him even later than Notre Dame.

“I’m taking one to Notre Dame on the (January) 20th,” he shared. “They’re excited to get me out there. A few other guys will be coming out that weekend.” 

For Fields, this visit will be very important and he will need to absorb a tremendous amount of information very quickly.

“I’m definitely going to see how comfortable I feel there,” he explained. “Second, I’m going to look into the academics. I’m pretty sure I’m going to be impressed with that. Then, I’m going to look at the football standpoint and the opportunities they have there. I’m going to take a look at the depth chart too and see what that is like.” 

College scouts know that they like Fields for his length and athleticism. For him, though, he’s going to be concerned with how well he fits in to the environments of the schools he visits.

Within his final four, Fields has no expressed no favorites. 

“I liked all of my visits,” he shared. “I’m just going to pray about it.”

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