Reading this stuff gives me a high !
Notre Dame Football Recruiting
Junior Day Update: Markese Stepp
Markese Stepp is no stranger to being on the Notre Dame campus, so Saturday wasn’t about seeing things or even experiencing something he hadn’t seen. The 6-foot, 205-pounder was there to simply bond with his fellow 2018 commits and try to get relationships stronger between the uncommitted prospects.
“It went great,” Stepp told Irish Sports Daily. “I got a lot of positive vibes from the coaches and they took us around campus, so we got to see a lot of great things. It’s always good to see the Basilica and The Grotto.
“It was good to bond with my future teammates and being able to see some of the guys in the 2017 class. It was good to talk with them too.”
The Indianapolis native got a chance to catch up with his classmates and celebrate his birthday in South Bend, but he also got a chance to hang out with the early enrollee from the 2017 class.
“I met CJ (Holmes) a couple of times and we’re pretty close,” stated Stepp. “CJ is a funny guy and it’s fun hanging around him with the twins.”
Stepp could be considered Notre Dame’s secret weapon on the recruiting trail as he has made it a priority to bring talent with him to South Bend. This weekend was a chance for him do that in person and he didn’t disappoint.
“I had met all the commits before,” said Stepp. “I think it was the twins first time meeting Phil (Jurkovec). It makes us all even closer as a class. It rubs off on the other recruits and it gets them close to us Hopefully, we can get them to join the family.
“I did a little bit of recruiting. I don’t try to like push them to commit and stress them out, but the twins were laying down the full court press this weekend. It was hilarious. They were telling guys to make the move and it was funny seeing that.”
With a smaller group on campus, the uncommitted prospects were made a priority and it’s looking like Stepp could be in a head-to-head battle with Urban Meyer for a 2018 linebacker.
“We were working on Kalon (Gervin), Micah (Jones) Braden (Lenzy) and Dallas (Gant.),” stated Stepp. “We will see where Dallas goes. It looks like Ohio State or Notre Dame.
“If we win at it, I guess you could say I did a pretty good job at it if we beat Ohio State out for kids.”
“They are changing a lot of things up there, to be honest,” explained Stepp. “He was telling me about how even the shoes have to be a certain way now, the clothes have to be in a certain way and they have neighborhoods in the locker room. They have teams and have a leader of the team now.
“You can see they aren’t ever going to go back and there is no more BS. They had a workout that was really hard yesterday that was unreal. This season is going to be crazy.”
The weekend visitors also got a taste of new Director of Football Performance Matt Balis. There has been much made about Balis’ Valentines Day workout he gave the team on Friday and Stepp could see it wasn’t a joke from just a short presentation.
“They had some demonstrations with Nyles Morgan, Josh Adams, Mike McGlinchey, Quenton Nelson and a few other guys,” Stepp said. “Coach Balis was making them do a demonstration of the new workouts, but it was more than a demonstration. They were in there getting it and sweating.”
Speaking of Nelson, Stepp was very happy to see the size of the Notre Dame offensive line.
“He’s huge,” laughed Stepp when asked about Nelson. “I am a pretty big back, but running behind him - it makes me look like I am 5-foot-8. I could literally just hide behind people running behind them.”
Up next for Stepp will be the spring camp circuit and he is looking to impress, as he missed most of the fall with a hamstring injury.
“I am going to do the Opening Regionals,” Stepp explained. “I feel like I am healthy enough to do it, so I am going to do that and try to get out to The Opening. I am going to do the Under Armour and Rivals Camps.”
Naturally, Stepp also wanted Notre Dame fans to know he wasn’t doing the camps just to improve his game.
“I think I can do a lot of recruiting at these camps too.”
“It went great,” Stepp told Irish Sports Daily. “I got a lot of positive vibes from the coaches and they took us around campus, so we got to see a lot of great things. It’s always good to see the Basilica and The Grotto.
“It was good to bond with my future teammates and being able to see some of the guys in the 2017 class. It was good to talk with them too.”
The Indianapolis native got a chance to catch up with his classmates and celebrate his birthday in South Bend, but he also got a chance to hang out with the early enrollee from the 2017 class.
“I met CJ (Holmes) a couple of times and we’re pretty close,” stated Stepp. “CJ is a funny guy and it’s fun hanging around him with the twins.”
Stepp could be considered Notre Dame’s secret weapon on the recruiting trail as he has made it a priority to bring talent with him to South Bend. This weekend was a chance for him do that in person and he didn’t disappoint.
“I had met all the commits before,” said Stepp. “I think it was the twins first time meeting Phil (Jurkovec). It makes us all even closer as a class. It rubs off on the other recruits and it gets them close to us Hopefully, we can get them to join the family.
“I did a little bit of recruiting. I don’t try to like push them to commit and stress them out, but the twins were laying down the full court press this weekend. It was hilarious. They were telling guys to make the move and it was funny seeing that.”
With a smaller group on campus, the uncommitted prospects were made a priority and it’s looking like Stepp could be in a head-to-head battle with Urban Meyer for a 2018 linebacker.
“We were working on Kalon (Gervin), Micah (Jones) Braden (Lenzy) and Dallas (Gant.),” stated Stepp. “We will see where Dallas goes. It looks like Ohio State or Notre Dame.
“If we win at it, I guess you could say I did a pretty good job at it if we beat Ohio State out for kids.”
They are changing a lot of things up there.
Brian Kelly also got a chance to impress his future running back. The Cathedral star got a chance to speak with his future head coach and Stepp loved the message Kelly giving him about the current state of the program and where the program is headed. “They are changing a lot of things up there, to be honest,” explained Stepp. “He was telling me about how even the shoes have to be a certain way now, the clothes have to be in a certain way and they have neighborhoods in the locker room. They have teams and have a leader of the team now.
“You can see they aren’t ever going to go back and there is no more BS. They had a workout that was really hard yesterday that was unreal. This season is going to be crazy.”
The weekend visitors also got a taste of new Director of Football Performance Matt Balis. There has been much made about Balis’ Valentines Day workout he gave the team on Friday and Stepp could see it wasn’t a joke from just a short presentation.
“They had some demonstrations with Nyles Morgan, Josh Adams, Mike McGlinchey, Quenton Nelson and a few other guys,” Stepp said. “Coach Balis was making them do a demonstration of the new workouts, but it was more than a demonstration. They were in there getting it and sweating.”
Speaking of Nelson, Stepp was very happy to see the size of the Notre Dame offensive line.
“He’s huge,” laughed Stepp when asked about Nelson. “I am a pretty big back, but running behind him - it makes me look like I am 5-foot-8. I could literally just hide behind people running behind them.”
Up next for Stepp will be the spring camp circuit and he is looking to impress, as he missed most of the fall with a hamstring injury.
“I am going to do the Opening Regionals,” Stepp explained. “I feel like I am healthy enough to do it, so I am going to do that and try to get out to The Opening. I am going to do the Under Armour and Rivals Camps.”
Naturally, Stepp also wanted Notre Dame fans to know he wasn’t doing the camps just to improve his game.
“I think I can do a lot of recruiting at these camps too.”
Never miss the latest news from Irish Sports Daily!
Join our free email list