Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING Davonte Neal is the last 2012 pros- pect left on Notre Dame's recruiting board. Neal originally planned on choos- ing from six schools, but four remain for the 5-9, 170-pound four-star re- cruit after removing Ohio State and Oklahoma from the list. His father, Luke, provided a break- down of the finalists: Arkansas — "The SEC is a great DAVONTE NEAL: ONE FINAL HOPE Scottsdale (Ariz.) Chaparral athlete tion and an opportunity to be a part of a good situation and play right away. His grandmother lives out there and he's intrigued by the new coach." Notre Dame — "You can't go North Carolina — "Great educa- conference to play in and he'd be challenged at every practice and ev- ery game. It'd be a great opportunity to play at a high level. There is a great alumni base and he'd be able to start his major right away as a freshman." Arizona — "It's close to home, 247Sports rates Scottsdale, Ariz., standout Davonte Neal as a four-star recruit, the No. 1 player in Arizona, the No. 6 athlete in the land and the nation's No. 53 overall recruit. PHOTO COURTESY 247SPORTS so that's a big plus if he needed to reach out to his support group. The coaches are a draw for them and it's a great opportunity to go in and play right away." 2012 RECRUITING RANKINGS coach Nick Saban's Crimson Tide also continues to clean up on the recruiting trail, finishing with the No. 1-ranked class in four of the five major scouting services this season after placing first in three of the five last year. Alabama also had the No. 1 class in 2008, and it helped result in two na- tional titles during their four seasons in Tuscaloosa. That same year, Notre Dame — led by the likes of quarterback Dayne College football is truly seeing Alabama "Roll, Tide, Roll!" Coming off their second national title on the field in three years, head Crist, wide receiver Michael Floyd, tight end Kyle Rudolph, linemen Trevor Robinson, Ethan Johnson and Sean Cwynar, and linebacker Darius Fleming 1. Alabama 2. Florida State 3. Texas 4. Florida 5. Ohio State 6. Georgia 7. Stanford 8. Michigan 9. Oklahoma 10. Miami 247Sports 17. Notre Dame Notes: 247Sports had Notre Dame with the highest rat- ing last year at No. 7 … Alabama's 26-man haul in- cludes eight early enrollees, four 247Sports five-stars (running back T.J. Yeldon, outside linebacker Ryan Anderson, safety Landon Collins and athlete Eddie Williams) and 15 four-stars. 50 MARCH 2012 10. Notre Dame Notes: Volume helped both Texas and Miami crack the top ten at ESPN. The two schools signed 28 and 33 players, respectively … Michigan and Ohio State inked 25 apiece, with the Buckeyes signing a superb defensive line led by the likes of end Noah Spence, end Adolphus Washington and tackle Tommy Schutt. 1. Alabama 2. Florida State 3. Texas 4. Florida 5. Georgia 6. Ohio State 7. Michigan 8. Miami 9. Clemson ESPNU 8. Oklahoma 9. USC 10. Stanford 17. Notre Dame Notes: Florida signed 12 linemen (including tight ends), led by D.J. Humphries on offense and Dante Fowler on defense. Florida State is replete with star power in QB Jameis Win- ston, corner Ronald Darby, and defensive tackles Mario Edwards and Eddie Golden. 1. Alabama 2. Texas 3. Ohio State 4. Michigan 5. Florida 6. Florida State 7. Miami sus top-five selections in the 2012 recruiting wars. Florida State, Ohio State, Michigan and Miami were consensus top-10 selections among the outlets. Oklahoma and Stanford made the top 10 in four of the five recruiting services. Tom Lemming/ MaxPreps.com 1. Alabama 2. Texas 3. Florida 4. Ohio State 5. Stanford 6. Michigan 7. USC Rivals.com 1. Texas Scout.Com 10. Oklahoma 22. Notre Dame Notes: Stanford signed two of the nation's premier of- fensive tackles, Kyle Murphy and Andrus Peat, to block for Barry Sanders Jr. De- spite signing only 15, USC signed its usual assortment of standouts such as athlete Nelson Agholor, safety Ger- ald Bowman and offensive tackle Zach Banner. 8. Florida State 9. Miami 9. Oklahoma 10. Florida State 18. Notre Dame Notes: Overall, it was busi- ness as usual in the college football recruiting cycle, with the warm-weather schools at the forefront. As expected, new Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer established his staff as the new force to be reckoned with in the northern, colder states. 2. Alabama 3. Ohio State 4. Michigan 5. Florida 6. Stanford 7. LSU 8. Miami BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED — were No. 2 on all the services except ESPNU (No. 9) — yet the Irish were a pedestrian 29-22 over those four seasons and never finished in the top 25. Ironically, ESPNU gave Notre Dame its highest rating this year at No. 10 despite the Irish signing only 16 recruits. In addition to the Crimson Tide, Texas and Florida were two other consen- wrong with a school like Notre Dame academically. They graduate 98 per- cent of the players and it's an op- portunity to play on national televi- sion every week. The alumni base is strong and there's coaching stability there. He'd have the opportunity to play right away and he loved the visit." Neal has taken official visits to all but Arizona, and was deciding whether he'd make the scheduled trip to see the Wildcats Feb. 10 the week of the visit. With the family feeling as though they had the information they needed to finalize a decision, an an- nouncement was set for Feb. 21 at