After much negotiation, the Notre Dame have finally agreed to sign an anticipated $150 million Pro Bowl super phenomenal player from…
557 days have passed since Saline, Michigan quarterback CJ Carr made his initial verbal commitment to the Notre Dame 2024 recruiting class. The Early Signing Period kicks off this week on Wednesday, December 20 and runs through Friday, December 21. This is the beginning of the end for this 2024 recruiting narrative.
It’s been a cycle of promise and problems, similar to last year—Marcus Freeman’s first complete recruiting class—but with significantly less drama than the end of 2023. The Fighting Irish accomplished several of their goals for 2024, but in terms of recruiting, they are still below the top ranks of the sport.
The Notre Dame recruiting class of 2024
Class Size: A Two-Step Method
It is hard and dangerous to talk about the incoming class of freshmen recruits without bringing up the transfers that are joining and leaving the team. These moving components will continue to work together for the foreseeable future.
A freshman class with 23 commits does seem somewhat tiny at first glance. I wrote about the rumors that Notre Dame would be pursuing seven transfers this off-season and how that didn’t seem like enough in a recent post. The Irish have already added six new players this month (QB Riley Leonard, WR Kris Mitchell, WR Beaux Collins, DE RJ Oben, CB Jordan Clark, and K Mitch Jeter), so that number is probably going to rise in the coming days. It’s important to keep in mind, though, that the transfers won’t actually end until long after spring.
*This year, the spring transfer gateway will only be open for 15 days, from Monday, April 15, 2024, to Tuesday, April 30, 2024. It will therefore probably open up at the conclusion of Notre Dame’s spring practice and close down a little after the Blue-Gold Game.
It will be difficult and fraught with issues to balance the freshmen vs the more experienced transfers each cycle. If you aim to attract more freshmen, you will undoubtedly lose more of them when they are eventually recruited elsewhere. And it’s frequently too late to recruit more freshmen commits when roster gaps become more noticeable, whether as a result of injuries or unexpected transfers. Like many other prominent programs, Notre Dame appears to be realizing that it’s easier and better to bring in a few more established transfers rather than sign a large class of recruits who are primarily freshmen.
As an example, since the start of July, Notre Dame has only added two commits for this 2024 cycle, and over the final three months before to the start of the Early Signing Period on Wednesday, there have been no verbals.
Flip SZN: Cold Batter Persisted
Perhaps this was the quietest flip cycle in a long time. Officially, wide receiver Logan Saldate of Oregon State was the lone prospect the Irish managed to entice.
Other well-known athletes flirted with Notre Dame during the year; one of the more well-known examples is Tennessee verbal and corner Kaleb Beasley 0.9348; however, in 2023, nothing significant came of it.
The Losses: Not sure
Compared to previous year, this part is SO much better!
Defensive lineman Brandon Davis-Swain (0.9160) left Notre Dame’s class a little over a year ago. Following rumors that Michigan would be his likely destination, he joined Colorado’s class on June 10. Wishing you luck.
After committing in the late spring of 2022, Owen Wafle (0.8925), a defensive lineman, fell far down the recruiting rankings, left Notre Dame’s class in May 2023, and joined Michigan’s class on June 11th.
Canion and the Yellow Jackets stayed at home.
The most painful loss was wide receiver Isiah Canion (0.9119), who committed to Notre Dame but decided to stay closer to home and exited the class after little over three months.
Impact of Freeman: Continue to Pray
We spoke about how Marcus Freeman couldn’t break that loop last year in a terribly terrible way. Although there hasn’t been much of a difference from his predecessor, Freeman has had an excellent overall recruiting campaign at Notre Dame.
The Irish finished 9th, 7th, and 12th in the 247 Composite team rankings after a relatively small class in 2020—possibly the final small class in school history—while continuing to hold 10th place in the team rankings as of 2024. Even though the class average has slightly decreased from 91.82 to 91.77 last year and 91.43 today, it is still wonderful to see that the average has been over 91 for each of the last three cycles.
Increasing Skill: F5 Is Not Necessary
Will there be an unexpected late flip or a late signing by an uncommitted recruit to join Notre Dame? While it’s always possible, we don’t advise using your phone or sitting down to work on updates all week.
Ten Notre Dame-offered prospects are still undecided as of the now:
Anthony Carrie (RB) in 0.9064
Ernest Willor, DE, 0.9470
Solomon Williams (DE) at 0.9113
DE Ross Jayshawn (0.9167)
LB Shawn Bradley (0.9256)
LB Tuakoi Naki (0.8975)
Mincey, S. Zavier (0.9719)
0.8775) S Damian Thompson
Jason Mitchell (0.8953) ATH Aaron Butler (0.9491)
Prospect Most Underappreciated: Micah Gilbert
For your boy, this portion from the previous year was a nightmare come true. Undoubtedly, a doomed list. I singled out several players, including Kaleb Smith (who suffered a shoulder injury and missed the entire regular season), Brandyn Hillman (who flipped late to Michigan and played in four games in 2023), Armel Mukam (who we thought would play on the edge), and Jayden Limar (who we knew was coming but flipped late to Oregon and rushed for 98 yards this year).
I’m going to choose wide receiver Micah Gilbert, which is a little bit of cheating. His dedication to Notre Dame shocked me, so much so that the services didn’t rank him higher. At Charlotte Christian, he caught 76 passes for 1,105 yards and 10 touchdowns in his final year. Gilbert seems like the kind of physically fit wide receiver who could have an immediate influence. He should normally be receiving a lot of attention, but rightfully so, Cam Williams, a classmate, has been hogging the limelight.
Strengths: Ability
This offensive class has a lot of top players. The bottom seven players in the On3 rankings above are all defenders.
Overall, the class seems to be very top-heavy, which isn’t always a bad thing. That is preferable to a more uniformly distributed blue-chip ratio in my opinion. If Carr, Williams, Lambert, KVA, Thomas, Gilbert, and Young can all bat well, this class at Notre Dame will rank among the greatest in recent memory. It’s never simple to bat 100% with six or seven players, of course.
Drawbacks: Protective Interior
Bryce Young has the potential to develop into a towering interior wrecking ball, which would allay some of my concerns. That being said, I’m shocked that strengthening the defensive line wasn’t given more attention this cycle. In light of the fact that 2025 will mark a new era following Howard Cross (and Rylie Mills? ), I would have assumed that adding at least one more recruit for 2024 is the solution.
In my opinion, 2025 will be a significant turning point for defensive tackles or nose guards.
15 Early Enrollees in Total
Yes, a sizable number of freshmen are enrolling early this year. We should have a great, complete roster for spring practice with these additions.
QB CJ Carr RB Kedren Young, Right Jack Larsen, TE Aneyas Williams, WR Cam Williams, WR Micah Gilbert, OT Styles Prescod, OG Peter Jones, OG Anthonie Knapp, DE, and DE Loghan Thomas DE Bryce Young Sean Sevillano Jr., LB, Cole Mullins DT Viliamu-Asa S. Kennedy Urlacher, Kingston
The top-ranked prospects who aren’t enrolling in January are Johnson, Lambert, and KVA. We’ll see how the latter two players fare when they arrive during the summer session, since they should be sniffing about some playing time in 2024.
Five Stars Left: 0
We have recently graduated 247 Composite 5-star students who aren’t enrolled in any institution. When was the last time we reached this point in the calendar without at least a few 5-stars who were still awaiting their choice? I can’t recall. It’s a another indication of the faster hiring schedule.
Only the following, out of the top 200 in the Composite, are still undecided:
41st overall, WR Burley, Gatlin Black, ID No. 56 Overall, S Zavier Mincey, Florida’s Daytona Beach
Overall, WR No. 64 Drelon Miller, No. 114 Overall, DL, Silsbee, TX Willor Ernest, Towson, MD
Overall, WR No. 142 Pine Bluff, AR’s Courtney Crutchfield, No. 149 Overall, DL Johnson Jericho, Fairfield, CA
Right now, every 5-star at On3 and Rivals has committed.
Final Team Ranking for Notre Dame in 2024: Tenth Overall, I’m sure a lot of people are always complaining about the class ranking just 10th in the country on the Irish Sports Daily and Irish Illustrated discussion boards, even though Marcus Freeman was supposed to give them a boost in this area. I kind of agree with that assessment, even though I’m sure it gets old to read those comments all the time!
But doesn’t it feel a touch different from the 2024 class?
Can the Irish score a lot of points this cycle at quarterback?
I’ve previously brought up this subject since, from a positional standpoint, the composition appears significant. Examine the Irish’s 2013 recruiting class (the one with Jaylon Smith), which featured two running backs, two tight ends, four offensive linemen, one defensive end, one linebacker, three corners, and one safety among its top 14.
That class placed fifth overall, hooray! However, with no significant hits at quarterback and wide receiver* and minimal depth on the defensive line, is it really that exciting?
*The rise of Will Fuller, a low 4-star, does make things a little better for the class, in fact!
Leading this class with a quarterback who could become a star seems like a much better idea right now. Naturally, a major factor in deciding whether or not this cycle was a tremendous success will be CJ Carr’s success. Even though it’s only the tenth spot right now, it’s encouraging to be in a position where you can hit at quarterback with a potentially excellent wide receiver class and very solid depth at most other positions.
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