Markese Stepp Making a Huge Impact for Notre Dame

Markese Stepp missed most of his junior season with a nagging hamstring injury, but the 2018 Notre Dame running back commit is getting healthy.

The 6-foot, 205-pounder has been in rehab and going through ‘Speed School’ and should be ready to go on the camp circuit this spring.

The Cathedral (Ind.) star is known for not only his talents on the field, but also his tenacious recruiting for the Irish. It’s highly doubtful a player who holds a Notre Dame offer hasn’t heard from Stepp. Despite the 4-8 record in 2016, Stepp says recruits are still intrigued by Notre Dame. 

“Everyone is still very open towards Notre Dame because I don’t think the changes have impacted anyone,” Stepp told Irish Sports Daily. “If Brian Kelly were to go, it would be a big impact. As of right now, no one has changed their approach towards Notre Dame out of the ones I’ve talked with.”

Stepp also remains in contact with Kelly and the two have given each other encouragement throughout the tough season.

“I have texted back and forth with him,” Stepp explained. “We were texting around Christmas. He was giving me encouraging words. He told me that Notre Dame was going to get this thing turned around and get on a roll.”

When Stepp committed, he promised he would recruit hard for Notre Dame. However, few knew he was actually recruiting for Notre Dame prior to his commitment to the Irish. The four-star prospect has continued to hit the trail so hard, Notre Dame may have found its future recruiting coordinator.  

“It was something I felt I needed to do for myself,” Stepp said of his aggressive recruiting. “I wanted to have top guys when I get there and help turn Notre Dame around. I want to get Notre Dame back on top of the college football world again.”

So who is Stepp currently targeting the most? It’s a long list.  

“Malik Vann, Houston Griffith, Micah Jones, Brendan Radley-Hiles, TJ Pledger, Brian Hightower, Tyreke Smith, Joshua Moore, Braden Lenzy, Dallas Gant, Jeremy Ruckert and Jaelan Gill,” stated Stepp.

“Talanoa Hufanga, the kid who does everything, is also a kid I have been recruiting hard. He is a freak. I was like ‘Oh my goodness’ when I saw his film.

"We'll get Houston. I'm working talking to him a lot."

What is the recruiting pitch for Stepp? It’s very similar to the one Notre Dame uses, but it’s powerful coming from someone Notre Dame’s top prospect could play with.  

“I am just telling them that where can you go wrong at Notre Dame,” said Stepp. “They have the best academics and you get to perform on the biggest stage in college football. It just sets you up for life on and off the field.

“Even with the negativity going on – every school will have a down year. It’s just going to happen. We’re just telling them we can turn it around if they come and we can get everything headed in the right direction. We can be responsible for it.”

In terms of the 2018 class, Stepp and five-star quarterback Phil Jurkovec have stated their commitments to Notre Dame are solid multiple times in the last few months, but as a whole, the entire class is solid.  

“Nobody in my class is looking any other schools,” stated Stepp. “We’re all 110 percent committed. It’s not really hard to tell everyone don’t go anywhere. We have each other's backs and we know once we get to Notre Dame, we can turn it around.”

Stepp returns to campus in a few weeks for Junior Day and he’s looking forward to recruiting and simply bonding with his fellow commits.

“I should be back at Notre Dame, which is on my birthday, on February 11th,” Stepp said. “I think that’s when Justin and Jayson Ademilola and Ovie (Oghoufo) will be there too.”