The Latest | Notre Dame & Khalil Barnes

Four delays while sitting in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport isn’t the way Khalil Barnes‍ envisioned his official visit to Notre Dame starting.

Frustrations were high, but the 2023 Georgia prospect was counseled that great things are often on the other side of adversity.

The landing at South Bend International Airport presented some additional adversity on such a windy day, but from that point on, the trip was “an incredible experience,” according to one source close to Barnes.

Every Notre Dame staffer – from coaches to recruiting assistants and more – was extremely hospitable and each had the same message: “There’s something special about ND!”

Barnes, a one-time Wake Forest commit, had already taken a couple official visits and several unofficial visits, so he had plenty to compare and he indeed experienced something special.

Barnes had the opportunity to spend time with several of the 2023 commits and some of the current players on the roster. His parents had the chance to pick the brain of the parents of those commits about the school, the program and sending their kids far away from home.

Notre Dame is taking a different approach to its recruitment of Barnes than other schools; pursuing him mainly as a receiver while his other contenders are looking at him primarily as a defensive back.

Meetings with wide receivers coach Chansi Stuckey and head coach Marcus Freeman couldn’t have gone much better. All of their questions were answered – “including some tough ones.”

Seeing the Irish dominate #4 Clemson – another top option for Barnes – in a primetime atmosphere was like “icing on the cake.”

The Irish didn’t apply a ton of pressure trying to get Barnes to commit on the spot, which was the right tactic since he’s set to take an official to Clemson at the end of the month anyway.

Prior to the visit, this source laughed at all of the predictions that Barnes was headed to Clemson.

Even before the completion of the visit, this source – and Barnes himself – were again laughing as the predictions had swung back to the Irish.

After speaking with multiple sources following the weekend, we’re confident in saying a couple things.

No decision has been made yet and the Irish are absolutely in the mix to land him, likely top two along with Clemson.

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