Monster Week For Notre Dame Recruiting

The Notre Dame women’s basketball team got the week started off well by winning a National Title on Sunday night, but it’s also a huge week for the football program. 

Head coach Brian Kelly and his staff are set to host several elite prospects that hold an offer from Notre Dame. 

On April 3rd, the Irish will welcome two linebackers on campus. 

2019 St. John Bosco (Calif.) linebacker Spencer Lytle‍ will make an unofficial visit to South Bend as part of a Midwest tour. The four-star prospect will also visit Clemson, Illinois and Wisconsin this week.

The 6-foot-3, 215-pounder has been busy this spring as he has kept an aggressive visit schedule with visits to Texas and Texas A&M. 

Notre Dame offered Lytle on March 1st, and he wasted zero time setting up a visit. Lytle has close to 40 offers, but Notre Dame can set the bar on Tuesday. 

Classmate Luke Fulton‍ will also be on campus on Tuesday. The 2019 Cardinal Mooney (Ohio) linebacker doesn’t have an offer from Notre Dame, but he’s very close. The 6-foot-3, 215-pounder has had communication with defensive coordinator Clark Lea and is someone to keep your eye on.

The three-star prospect holds 30 offers but is on the border of having an elite offer list. An offer from Notre Dame can change that in a hurry. 

Fulton has visited Duke, Michigan State, Nebraska, Penn State, Pitt and West Virginia this spring. 

Notre Dame will continue hosting linebackers on April 4th. Elite 2019 linebacker Brandon Smith‍ will make a highly anticipated return to South Bend, and it’s a significant visit. 


The Louisa County (Va.) four-star prospect holds 28 offers from just about every elite program in the country, and he’s been busy this spring. Smith has already visited Virginia and Virginia Tech this spring, but this week he will be at Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Penn State. 

Some programs are recruiting him as a defensive end, but Lea wants him at linebacker as he can play sideline to sideline. 

Elite LB Brandon Smith Set For Spring Break Swing

2019 Sam Ramon Valley (Calif.) linebacker Tristan Sinclair‍ will also be on campus on Wednesday. The three-star prospect added an offer from the Irish on March 5th and had a visit to Notre Dame set before the offer. 

Sinclair holds 13 offers, but it’s an interesting list of programs like Arizona State, Cal, Colorado, Columbia Princeton, San Jose State, Vanderbilt and Washington State are a few of his offers. 

Harvard will host Sinclair on Monday, and he will visit Stanford on Friday. Notre Dame will likely be the leader coming out of the visit, but Sinclair said he’s not in too big of a hurry to make a decision. 

April 5th is a 2020 prospect day, and Notre Dame will host two elite prospects on Thursday. 

Damascus (Md.) Bryan Bresee‍ is ranked as the top player in the 2020 class by some services, and the Irish will look to jump in the race with the 6-foot-5, 260-pounder. 

Bresee already holds offers from Alabama, Florida State, Georgia, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Tennessee and Virginia Tech, so it’s an important visit to compete with other prominent programs. 

The five-star prospect has made spring visits to Clemson, Georgia and Michigan. Bresee will visit Wisconsin on Wednesday. 

On March 26th, Notre Dame offered 2020 Southlake Carroll (Texas) cornerback RJ Mickens‍, and the four-star prospect wasted zero time setting a visit to South Bend. The 6-foot-1, 180-pounder might be a sophomore in high school, but he holds 23 offers from Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Clemson, Duke, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, Stanford, Texas A&M, UCLA and Wisconsin to name a few. 

Mickens attended Junior Days at Oklahoma and Texas A&M earlier this spring. It’s also worth noting he is the son of Ray Mickens, who played safety at Texas A&M before playing 10 years in the NFL. 

The Irish will wrap up the week hosting 2019 four-star tight end Ethan Rae‍. The Lutheran (Calif.) standout missed the 2017 season with a knee injury and is expected to get cleared for spring practice. 

Notre Dame has had its eye on the 6-foot-5, 240-pounder for a long-time as they offered him as a sophomore. Chip Long has led Rae’s recruitment and is a significant reason why he set up the visit. 

Arizona State, Cal, Ole Miss, Oregon and USC are five programs to watch coming out of the visit as Rae admitted those programs are coming after him hard. Rae will take his official visits in the fall, so don’t expect a commitment soon.