Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING yards, caught 16 balls for 258 yards and scored 10 total touch- downs on offense. 247Sports Ranking: Four- star recruit, the No. 150 player in the country, the No. 14 cornerback in the land and the No. 6 pros- pect in Ohio. Skinny: Crawford first visited South Bend last summer, but left without an offer from Notre Dame and eventu- ally committed to Michigan on Aug. 23, 2013 … Crawford told Blue & Gold Illus- trated that he would have committed to the Irish if they had offered … Former defensive coordinator Bob Diaco was not going to offer him due to his size, but head coach Brian Kelly extended an offer Feb. 21, two months after Diaco's departure to the University of Connect- icut as its new head coach … Crawford is being recruited as an athlete by the Irish staff and could end up seeing time at cornerback or wide receiver … He is expected to visit Notre Dame at the end of May and a flip to the Irish could po- tentially occur at that time … Crawford will participate in Nike's The Opening this summer in Beaverton, Ore. JUSTIN HILLIARD LB, 6-2, 230 Cincinnati (St. Xavier) Junior Season: Notched 76 tackles, seven stops behind the line of scrimmage, four sacks, one interception and one fumble recovery. 247Sports Ranking: Five-star prospect, the No. 14 recruit in the land, the No. 1 outside linebacker nationally and the No. 1 player in Ohio. Skinny: Alabama, Iowa, Michigan, Notre Dame and Ohio State have al- ways been the schools to beat for Hilliard … Iowa has the edge be- cause his brother C.J. signed to play with the Hawkeyes in 2014 … The Notre Dame, Ohio State and Michigan staffs have been recruiting him for a long time and have developed great relationships with him … Alabama was somewhat late on the offer, but impressed Hilliard greatly during a recent visit to Tusca- loosa … Hilliard is a priority for the Irish staff and having Brian VanGorder as the new defensive coordinator could be enough to land Hilliard … If Notre Dame is successful this season, espe- cially defensively, it's likely that Hill- iard ends up in South Bend. JOHN REID CB, 5-10, 180 Philadelphia (St. Joseph's) Junior Season: Recorded 63 tackles and two interceptions on defense, and caught 41 passes for 698 yards and 11 total touchdowns on offense. 247Sports Ranking: Four- star prospect, the No. 83 player in the nation, the No. 6 cornerback in the land and the No. 1 re- cruit in Pennsylvania. Skinny: The national perception has always been that Reid is a lock to at- tend Penn State, but that is not the