Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING high school classmate Tee Shepard, a cornerback, as early members of head coach Brian Kelly's 2012 class. Green- berry and Shepard said through- out the recruiting process that they planned to play together in college, but he had a late change of heart after Shepard enrolled at Notre Dame in January. "I don't know that it's anything any hard feelings between the two. That's the information Deontay told me." The Irish signed two other receivers 18-14, in the Dec. 29 Champs Sports Bowl. Although Darby had committed — Justin Ferguson and Chris Brown — but Greenberry was the projected heir to Michael Floyd as the next mar- quee receiver for the Irish. "I definitely feel for the coaching negative about Notre Dame," Freitas said. "It was just Houston felt like the place for him. He's got a real good connection with an assistant coach there now. He liked the campus, liked the town and felt like it was finally his decision instead of just following his cousin Tee to some school. "That seemed to be a big, big thing that he kept saying, that he was go- ing to Notre Dame because Tee was going there. For the first time, he ac- tually feels like he's making his own decision." Looking back, Freitas feels Green- staff and all the Notre Dame people," Freitas added. "This is a tough, tough thing about the recruiting situation. You don't truly know until the name is signed on the dotted line. They're just 17-, 18-year-old kids." Greenberry was the second prized 247Sports five-star prospect Notre Dame lost within a month. California wide receiver Deontay UNCOVERED CORNER to Notre Dame during the April 2011 Blue-Gold Game weekend, the elite speedster continued to routinely take visits to other schools. The home-state Maryland Terrapins were the first to receive a visit from him in October, and he followed up with Auburn in November, and then Clemson and Florida State, the latter Jan. 13-15. His reasoning for wanting to get back into recruiting was because he never felt he truly experienced the process because of his busy track schedule, and the second sport that has allowed him to compete interna- tionally was also part of the decision to keep looking. According to Josh Newberg of berry's desire to look at other schools was an indicator he wasn't com- pletely comfortable with his decision to attend Notre Dame. "If you're really locked into a Noles247, following the Under Ar- mour Game — where Notre Dame assistants Tony Alford and Kerry Cooks were Irish representatives — the Seminoles coaches were able to successfully get into Darby's ear and urge a visit. Darby has mentioned an interest school, you don't keep taking visits to other places. He kept taking visits," Freitas said. "I thought maybe he's just taking visits to have the experi- ence. But you're looking for some- thing when you keep taking visits. "I really wasn't aware that he was really looking for something. He was seeing if something was out there that was a better fit for him, and he found it." Greenberry's relationship with Christian sealed the deal for Houston. Christian was formerly an assistant coach at Arizona State. When the en- tire staff was let go at the end of the season, he landed at Houston, where he is the special teams coordinator and inside receivers coach. "He's a guy who was recruiting Ronald Darby, a five-star cornerback from Oxon Hill, Md., was committed to Notre Dame for eight months, but had a change of heart and ended up at Florida State. Deontay — probably one of the first guys to recruit him — and first gave him some attention several years ago," Freitas explained. "Christian was a big factor in all this." The day prior to signing, Green- berry talked to Shepard about the change of heart. "Tee said that if it's truly what you want, he respects that," Freitas said. "He certainly wanted him to come to Notre Dame. There's not going to be www.BLUEANDGOLD.com in both playing football and running track in college, and while Notre Dame typically isn't as known for its track program, wide receiver com- mit Chris Brown of Hanahan, S.C., a record-setting triple jumper, will be doing both sports in South Bend. "It was big," Darby told ESPN.com of track's influence on his decision. "Going onto the next level, I'd love to make it to the NFL, but if I do fall short on that, I want to be able to run track." Signing two elite cornerbacks was PHOTO COURTESY 247SPORTS Hill (Md.) Potomac cornerback Ron- ald Darby confirmed after the Jan. 5 Under Armour All-America Game in Orlando, Fla., that he was decommit- ting on his eight-month verbal pledge to Notre Dame. His three new finalists were the The first came Jan. 8 when Oxon southern triumvirate of Florida State, Clemson and Auburn, and on National Signing Day he chose the Seminoles, who vanquished the Irish, a priority to the Irish in 2012 the way reeling in marquee defensive ends such as Aaron Lynch and Stephon Tuitt was in 2011. In Darby and Tee Shepard, the Irish staff believed it had their corner version of Lynch and Tu- itt, but Darby's departure left a void that couldn't be filled. In place of Darby, Notre Dame at- tempted to lure New Jersey's Yuri Wright (Colorado), Illinois' Anthony Standifer (Boise State or Pitt) and Florida's Brian Poole (Florida), but Wright's misuse of social media got him expelled from high school (see page 5), Standifer lacked a second year of a foreign language to get admitted and Poole stayed close to home. MARCH 2012 49