Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/531612
156 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2015 FOOTBALL PREVIEW that Notre Dame could make him the best tight end, and the Irish we're going to put him in a position to succeed. "We think he's — and we've been recruit- ing him since his sophomore year — the finest tight end in the country," Kelly said. "We think he's going to be another one of the great tight ends that have played here at Notre Dame. "That's not to put any pressure on Aliz'e. That's why he came here. He wants that," Kelly added. "He will be a threat catching the football. You will not be able to put a linebacker on him. You're going to have to use a safety to cover him." What Could Have Been When the dust settled on National Sign- ing Day, Notre Dame's recruiting class had plenty of positives — but while it all ap- peared to be good on paper, there were still some shortcomings behind the scenes. The Irish were hoping to sign three safe- ties, but managed to sign just two following the decommitment Dallas South Oak Cliff four-star safety Prentice McKinney. McKinney, who had been committed to the Irish for almost nine months, flipped to North Carolina in late January and eventu- ally landed at Oklahoma. The Irish tried to fill the hole in the class and hosted three potential safety targets for official visits with College Park (Ga.) Wood- ward Academy four-star Arrington Farrar, Geismar (La.) Dutchtown three-star Justin Reid and San Bernardino (Calif.) San Gor- gonio three-star safety Nathan Meadors all on campus in January. It was a promising group of talent, but the Irish did not land any of the trio. "We've got some more work to do there," Kelly said "We're not done." Kelly was right. Just a few weeks later, California safety Avery Sebastian announced that he was transferring to Notre Dame as a graduate student. While the lapse at safety will probably be the scarlet letter of the class, there were still some other misses. Barnett, Jones and Jamabo were three players the staff wanted on offense, and then there was five-star cornerback Iman Mar- shall and four-star cornerback Ykili Ross — who both visited Notre Dame — but elected to sign with USC. Still, at the end of the day, Kelly was pleased with the class, and that's what counts. "I think I would characterize it as that we are starting to build depth for the program," Kelly said. ✦ 2015 Recruiting Class Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown (High School) Josh Adams RB 6-2 210 Warrington, Pa. (Central Bucks South) Named to 2014 Pennsylvania Football Writers Class AAAA all-state team. Josh Barajas LB 6-3 212 Valparaiso, Ind. (Andrean) Selected to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Asmar Bilal LB 6-3 210 Indianapolis (Ben Davis) Invited to participate in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Miles Boykin WR 6-3 225 Tinley Park, Ill. (Providence Catholic) Named The Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette 2014 Player of the Year in Illinois. Nick Coleman DB 6-0 180 Dayton, Ohio (Archbishop Alter) Tabbed as first-team Division IV All-Ohio selection at RB by the Associated Press. Te'von Coney* LB 6-0 221 Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. (Palm Beach Gardens) Selected to play in the Under Armour All-American Game. Shaun Crawford DB 5-9 170 Lakewood, Ohio (St. Edward) Invited to participate in the Under Armour All-American Game. Micah Dew-Treadway* DL 6-5 280 Bolingbrook, Ill. (Bolingbrook) Named to The Champaign News-Gazette's all-state team. Nicco Fertitta DB 5-9 175 Las Vegas (Bishop Gorman) Selected to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Jalen Guyton WR 6-1 185 Allen, Texas (Allen) Named Class 6A first-team all-state by the Texas Associated Press Sports Editors. Tristen Hoge* OL 6-4 290 Pocatello Idaho (Highland) Named an All-American by Parade, USA Today and MaxPreps. Aliz'e Jones TE 6-5 220 Las Vegas (Bishop Gorman) Played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, and earned a spot on USA Today's All-USA first team. Trevor Ruhland OL 6-4 285 Cary, Ill. (Cary Grove) Named Class 7A first-team all-state by the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association. CJ Sanders WR 5-10 185 Granada Hills, Calif. (Notre Dame) Invited to play in the Semper Fidelis All-American Game. Equanimeous St. Brown WR 6-5 205 Anaheim, Calif. (Servite) One of nine wide receivers named to The Western 100 by The Tacoma News-Tribune. Elijah Taylor DL 6-3 285 Cincinnati (Moeller) Named first-team Division I all-state by the Associated Press and The Cincinnati Enquirer. Brandon Tiassum DL 6-4 296 Indianapolis (Park Tudor) Selected to participate in the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl. Jerry Tillery* DL 6-6 310 Shreveport, La. (Evangel Christian) Honored as the Louisiana District 1-3A Defensive MVP and The Shreveport Times' All-City Defensive Player of the Year. Bo Wallace DL 6-4 215 New Orleans (John Curtis) Announced in early May that he would not be attending Notre Dame, and ended up at Arizona State. Ashton White DB 5-11 182 Clinton, Md. (Bishop McNamara) Named a third-team All-Washington Catholic Athletic Conference performer. Dexter Williams RB 6-0 200 Winter Garden, Fla. (West Orange) Ranked by The Orlando Sentinel as the No. 8 prospect in the Sentinel Super 60 players in Central Florida. Mykelti Williams DB 6-0 200 Indianapolis (Warren Central) Named The Indianapolis Star's Super Team Player of the Year and finished third in the state's Mr. Football voting. Brandon Wimbush QB 6-2 212 Jersey City, N.J. (St. Peters Prep) Named the Gatorade Player of the Year in New Jersey, and an All-American by MaxPreps and Under Armour. Justin Yoon K 5-11 185 Nashville, Tenn. (Milton Academy) Ranked as the No. 1 kicking prospect in the country by Kohl's Kicking and was an Under Armour All-American. * Enrolled in January 2015 The Irish had decided to bypass taking a quar- terback in the 2015 recruiting cycle until head coach Brian Kelly got a look at Jersey City (N.J.) St. Peters Prep standout Brandon Wimbush's mid- season highlight tape. PHOTO BY ANDREW IVINS