My jumping-off point this morning is a note from Anna Hickey, who covers Notre Dame recruiting for Scout.
Notre Dame is increasing its recruiting success in Pennsylvania
Welcome to The Crootletter (sign up to get this in your inbox every morning!). I’m Bud Elliott, SB Nation’s National Recruiting Analyst, and in this space I’ll be sharing news, rumors and musings on the world of college football recruiting.
After the Irish picked up the commitment of four-star 2018 linebacker Matthew Bauer, she noted that Notre Dame has added five commitments in the 2017-18 classes from Pennsylvania who held Penn State offers. Six, if you include Robert Hainsey, the four-star offensive tackle who played in Pennsylvania before transferring down to IMG Academy in Florida.
Notre Dame crushing Penn State in recruiting is nothing new. The Irish have signed 59 four- and five-stars over the last four cycles, compared to 30 for the Nittany Lions.
But a four-year comparison might not be entirely fair, given the recruiting implications of the Penn State sanctions. Comparing only James Franklin’s first two full classes (2015 and 2016), Notre Dame’s lead is only 24 to 21.
Acknowledging that sample size is not statistically significant, check into Notre Dame’s Pennsylvania recruiting in recent years. The Irish’ success this year is an anomaly under Brian Kelly: Notre Dame signed just one blue-chip player from Pennsylvania over the last two seasons and just four total in six years.
Perhaps the state is becoming more talented, or perhaps the Irish are placing greater emphasis on an area with many powerful Catholic schools. It’s too early to tell, but certainly worth monitoring.
Quickly
Virginia Tech landed an in-state four-star quarterback for their 2018 class, DeJuan Ellis.
Florida State landed a Florida quarterback, James Blackman, whom Louisville and West Virginia wanted badly. Passing up an opportunity to play closer to home for a coach who routinely puts QBs in the NFL was just too much to ask.
UCLA added their second defensive back commitment in as many days, with the second being three-star cornerback Jaylan Shaw.
Texas will face an uphill battle with Auburn and Alabama for four-star defensive end Ryan Johnson, but the Longhorns finally offered. Johnson sounds intrigued.
Ohio State is already getting on offers for 2019 prospects, sending one to highly regarded Virginia running back Devyn Ford.
Chad Morris has signed 47 players as head coach at SMU. He explains why all are from Texas.
