Christian Gray Making Positive Early Impressions at Notre Dame
Christian Gray visited Notre Dame almost as many times as Drayk Bowen.
If you don’t follow recruiting, the St. Louis native was on campus frequently over the last two years as cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens made him an early priority.
Gray enrolled in January and he’s quickly become a favorite in the cornerback room and the Notre Dame locker room. He’ll miss the Blue-Gold Game as he had a recent knee scope, but Gray has benefited from enrolling early according to Mickens.
“He’s eager to learn and he’s still eager to learn during this injury,” Mickens stated. “That’s the great thing about him. He doesn’t want to fall behind mentally.
“What is he doing? He’s still getting extra meetings every day and staying involved with it just like he was attacking each day out here this spring. He’s making great strides and now he’s going to attack his rehab.”
The 5-foot-11, 184-pounder has a unique personality where he often carries a smile on his face off the field, but he also knows when to turn into a fierce competitor that locked top St. Louis prep talent down during his career.
Sophomore cornerback Benjamin Morrison has enjoyed Gray’s funny side, yet he also sees the drive that made him into a freshman All-American last fall. Morrison has also made sure to take Gray under his wing during the early enrollee’s first semester.
“Just that one little brother you always have,” said Morrison with a laugh. “Christian, he’s a funny guy, but he’s also a great player. It’s awesome to have a guy like that. I see a lot of myself in him, so it’s cool to walk him through things I had to go through last year. I didn’t early enroll last year, but it’s the same transition. When you get on campus, there are going to be things you don’t know what to do or understand.
“Having a person to go to is awesome. Riq (TaRiq Bracy) was that for me last year, so it’s nice being that for Christian.”
Junior Chance Tucker has also been impressed with Gray’s work on the field.
‘He was making good plays on the ball coming up at field corner and he’s confident in his abilities,” Tucker stated.
Depth and talent are areas Notre Dame’s cornerback room has lacked for quite some time, but Mickens has quickly fixed those issues in his three years at Notre Dame. Gray and summer enrollee Micah Bell will only add to the competition and that’s something the entire room has embraced.
“It’s always been that way with Cam (Hart), C-Lew (Clarence Lewis) and even with Riq last year,” said sophomore Jaden Mickey. “It’s been all love and helping each other get better and helping the team instead of being somebody else. It’s been good.”
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