John Gay III was sidelined with an ankle injury and watching practice when his head coach at Chaminade-Madonna College Prep called the 2027 Florida safety over last week.
“Right now I'm dealing with an ankle, so I wasn't able to practice,” Gay said. “My head coach, Coach (Dameon) Jones, he was on the phone and then he called me over.”
Jones was talking to Notre Dame assistant coach Ja’Juan Seider.
“He had hit him up asking about me and stuff, and I was talking to him for a little bit,” Gay recalled.
The Irish coaches made their intentions to the 6-foot-2, 185-pounder clear during the call.
“They were just saying how they like my playing style and was saying, am I good enough? Do I think I'm good enough to play for the Irish?” Gay said. “That was like, of course I know I'm good enough. And that's when he had offered me the scholarship.”
Gay’s reaction was immediate.
“It was just nothing but excitement,” he said. “Pure excitement.”
The Hollywood, Fla., native said Notre Dame’s recent success at defensive back stands out.
“The success that they have at DB,” Gay said. “They sent a couple DBs to The League and they have some great young DBs right now.”
The staff’s presence also left an impression.
“The coaches were great,” Gay said. “They had all the energy that I'm looking for when it comes to finding a home for the next chapter.”
Notre Dame joins an offer list that includes Auburn, Boston College, Florida, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Pitt, SMU, South Florida, Syracuse, Texas A&M and Virginia Tech among others.
The next step with the Irish is clear.
“Getting up there,” Gay said. “Getting up there for spring practice, setting up an official visit.”
He has not yet finalized a date for a spring trip to South Bend, but he knows what he wants to evaluate once on campus.
“Seeing how the coaches coach their kids up and just the energy,” Gay said. “The energy has got to be high.”
Gay plans to visit Mississippi State, Syracuse and South Florida this spring in addition to Notre Dame.
He intends to narrow his list after that.
“I'm trying to narrow it down to five schools to take official visits to right now,” he said.
A final decision will likely come before the end of summer.
“Sometime before the season,” Gay said. “I don't know exactly when, but I know sometime before the season.”
As he evaluates programs, development will be central.
“Coaches who are willing to develop me not only on the field, but off the field as a man as well and just the energy and be pushed every day and stuff like that.”
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