By Brian HamiltonIn an effort to bolster the depth of the class itself and the roster in general, Notre Dame hosted a number of recruits this weekend in hopes of garnering last-minute commitments. And, so far, it's paid off.
According to multiple reports, three players who visited this weekend made oral commitments to the Irish and new coach Brian Kelly, just days before national Signing Day: Quarterback Luke Massa, athlete Derek Roback and defensive end Bruce Heggie.
The 6-foot-4-inch, 205-pound Massa previously had been recruited by Kelly at Cincinnati and was committed to the Bearcats, but switched allegiances after the visit.
"I picked ND because I believe in coach Kelly and his whole staff," Massa told Irish Illustrated.
Heggie becomes one of the most intriguing stories of the entire recruiting cycle. He had no scholarship offers before the Irish swooped in, apparently on the potential they saw in the 6-foot-6-inch, 240-pound prospect.
""It was great .. I really like the tradition of the school and the character of the coaching staff," Heggie told the Orlando Sentinel. "It's very surprising but I can do it."
The 6-foot-3, 221-pound Roback was offered a scholarship by Kelly this past week and was not recruited with a specific position in mind.
"I'm excited to get up here and get working," Roback told Irish Sports Daily. At this point right now, I think we're looking at an h-back type deal. Like (Ben) Guidugli at Cincinnati."
There are several other prospects in play that visited this weekend as well, most notably and significantly four-star offensive line prospect Matt James of Cincinnati -- a high school teammate of Massa's.
Photo: Brian Kelly. (Terrence Antonio James / Tribune)
""It was great .. I really like the tradition of the school and the character of the coaching staff," Heggie told the Orlando Sentinel. "It's very surprising but I can do it."
The 6-foot-3, 221-pound Roback was offered a scholarship by Kelly this past week and was not recruited with a specific position in mind.
"I'm excited to get up here and get working," Roback told Irish Sports Daily. At this point right now, I think we're looking at an h-back type deal. Like (Ben) Guidugli at Cincinnati."
There are several other prospects in play that visited this weekend as well, most notably and significantly four-star offensive line prospect Matt James of Cincinnati -- a high school teammate of Massa's.
Photo: Brian Kelly. (Terrence Antonio James / Tribune)
You're wrong weasel! They're only removing your dumbjective commets.
Besides your comments are from impartial.
GO ND!
Poor li'l Weasel Boy. He can't write a simple sentence in English but he can spend hours cooking up new aliases to hide behind. Come on out, Weasel61 - I see you!
This is stunning. Brian Kelly has not only written on this message board, but he's declared himself a big bust. This is unprecedented.
I'll admit, I was a little surprised when I read his confession, considering I have heard him talk and he seemed like a well-spoken guy, not like a preschooler. Alas, what do I know? I am so happy I no longer have to worry about whether he will be good or not, for Brian Kelly has spoken to us directly.
This just in...
The Chitown_Moron has been signed to the practice squad at Notre Dame.
He is going to be serving as the Tackling Dummy!
Ha Ha!
Michael has it exactly right. Chitown61 uses a swarm of aliases but nothing could be more transparent. Your pathetic attempts to disguise yourself don't fool anyone; they merely serve to further display what a sad, sad little man you are.
Do tell: What's your prediction for when Clausen will be drafted?
I would like to see this new qb start if Cryst isn't ready to go. Start the new era off fresh. They should bring B. Davie back as a DL coach.
Poaching recruits goes on all the time, especially when there is a coaching change. It sux but that's how it is. Massa changed his commitment to ND because of Coach Kelly.
Anybody - Given the choice of going to Cincinnati or Notre Dame on a full scholarship when your original commitment to Cincy was more to the coach than the school - where would you go?
There seems to be no shortage of people who hate Notre Dame. IMO one of the biggest reasons for that is its arrogance and a general all-around elitist 'my s... doesn't stink' attitude.
FYI - I went there once upon a time, flunked out, went into the Navy, came back and flunked out AGAIN. It did NOT break my heart to see Navy come to South Bend in 2007, give them a whippin' and two years later do it AGAIN.
I still love it, but to me there is no doubt that Notre Dame needs to eat a large helping of humble pie.
Chitown's a hypocrite. He was encouraging recruits to leave ND for other schools. However, now that ND has taken one away, it is a recruiting violation. Interesting how that works. You're a hypocrite. The city of Chicago thinks you're an idiot. You can't spell.
Also, please come up with some new material. You could at least inflect a little humor into your posts. Have a good day loser!
GO IRISH!
Notre Dame is not the shining city on a hill its fans would have us believe it is but it has a good graduation rate - much higher than that of the average bear. Having once gone there but not graduated many years ago in the 60s and being a practicing Catholic now I don't particularly care for what I now see, but that's my problem.
If they want to compete at the highest level which they obviously do they have to play the game within the present rules - poaching recruits goes one here there and everywhere. Right now they have 20 recruits and if they get that OL from Cincinnati it will be 21, which given the circumstances is as good as can be expected.
Remember Greg Oden who played basketball at Ohio State and was the 1st overall choice in the NBA draft a few years ago after one semester at OSU? In his one and only semester at that august institution he took two courses - Sociology and the History of Rock and Roll.
(Source: Sports Illustrated)
What's so funny is that some people can actually get away with using different names. Not you, because everyone who reads your posts knows exactly how you write (nonsensically). I think I have read "snake oil salesman" and "a big time bust" (nice to know considering he hasn't coached 1 game yet) from you in 90% of your posts, which for some reason are posted about 50 times per day.
It may be sad that I read your posts, but I read the ND articles and comments because I like ND. You read the ND articles because you hate them, then you go off on tangents about how you hate them. Do you really not find it sad that you do this?
And for the record, having a player decommit from your old school and commit to your new school a month later is in no way a recruiting violation. Read the rules.
Chitownfan61 - You are a loser. Chicago can't stand you. Go back to first grade where you belong.
Go IRISH!