Recruiting Week In Review
Written by Joe Bradshaw
The 2017 Notre Dame football team possesses great depth and talent at wide receiver. This was evidenced by the large number of wide receivers that caught passes in the Blue-Gold Game. That kind of depth not only gives Irish offensive coordinator Chip Long the ability to create the match-ups, or more specifically the mismatches that he wants in the passing game but it also creates tremendous competition for playing time that pushes each player to the limit. Long and Notre Dame wide receiver coach Del Alexander would obviously like to maintain this situation and they are pursuing some outstanding recruits in order to do so.
Last week, Irish Sports Daily reported on two highly regarded prospects that not only possess great potential but also have Notre Dame at or near the top of their final landing sites. What have you been missing by not being a member of Irish Sports Daily?
Kevin Austin, WR, 6-3, 198, North Broward Preparatory School, Coconut Creek, FL visited South Bend for the Blue-Gold Game and the Notre Dame coaching, academic and support staff left the four-star receiver wanting for nothing.
“Everything I asked for they provided and we got to see,” he said. “Getting to talk to the academic advisers, talking to the coaching staff, seeing the campus and of course seeing the game.”
Like many recruits, Austin was interested in learning as much as possible about the academic side of things.
“I just wanted to see what they were going to help me with after football, after my college experience and how they help throughout the process of college,” he said.
The Irish coaches also received the opportunity to make their pitch to him.
“The coaches were really just saying they’re looking for playmakers and guys who are fast and have the ability to make plays,” Austin shared. “That’s what they’re looking for the next couple of years.”
Austin’s recruiting wasn’t just limited to the coaches. Notre Dame commits Braden Lenzy and Micah Jones also were in his ear.
“They were really just saying if we came in together, myself and also (Chase) Cota, we would be the best wide receiver class in the country,” he said. “We could reform Notre Dame and the way they play the game.”
Austin clearly felt at home, not just with the campus but with the people as well. And the campus did catch his eye.
“It was a great time seeing Touchdown Jesus, First Down Moses and the Golden Dome and all of that stuff.”
Austin plans to make his decision by the end of summer and has not scheduled any other visits with the exception of The Opening in Oregon this summer. Now he needs to get together with his family and coaches and digest all he’s seen at the various schools that are recruiting him. His top eight consists of Notre Dame, Duke, Florida, Kentucky, Miami, Ohio State, Tennessee and USC. The Irish definitely gave him much to consider.
“It was a great experience overall; great academics, great football and a great coaching staff.”
Irish Sports Daily
While the Irish appear to be in a very strong position with Austin, Isaah Crocker, WR, 6-1, 175, Inderkum High School, Sacramento, CA made no bones about the fact that Notre Dame is the team to beat. He also knows why.
“Everything,” he said of what appeals to him about Notre Dame. “It’s a very huge school. It’s one of the top schools in my opinion. On top of that, academically it’s a good school you can graduate from and everything like that.”
Despite the distance, Crocker hopes to make it to South Bend this summer for an unofficial visit. Notre Dame special teams coach Brian Polian has been in his ear about coming to Notre Dame.
“They want me to go down there,” he shared. “I want to take an official but I don’t know when. That’s going to be one official that’s already locked in. I want to go in the summer, probably toward the end of the summer or probably during football season.”
When he gets on campus, Crocker wants to see “everything.”
“I want to see how it is out there,” he said. “I’ve never been to Indiana, so I just want to see what it’s like at Notre Dame and figure out how they run things out there.”
Though Crocker definitely plans to get to South Bend it’s a sure bet that Polian will see him in California first.
“He’s been saying he couldn’t wait to meet me and stuff and hopefully we’ll meet up sometime soon,” he said. “I forgot where he was going but he said he was going on the road.”
If Notre Dame leads for Crocker’s signature, Cal is running a close second. The four-star recruit has been to Cal a number of times. He’s impressed by the university’s standing as one of the top public schools in the nation and because it’s so nearby it’s easy for him to visit. He’s also planning to hit up some other Pac 12 schools as well with trips to UCLA, USC, Oregon and Oregon State in the coming weeks.
Crocker is uncertain when he will make his final decision. It could be as early as before his season begins, as late as after the conclusion of it or sometime in between.
These two summaries represent just a sample of the Notre Dame football information available each week on Irish Sports Daily.