With fall football training camp looming, the Notre Dame coaching staff is putting on a strong push to get its top prospects on campus for unofficial visits before the 2010 season gets underway. While several recruits that Notre Dame covets plan on making late decisions, there are numerous others that have a much more abbreviated timetable for decisions. With a limited number of scholarships available the Irish coaching staff must walk the fine line between getting the players that they need and leaving room for those that they want. Last week two players that Notre Dame clearly desires took unofficial visits to South Bend. Irish Sports Daily’s Steve Wiltfong caught up with both of them after their trips to get their reactions to the visits. What have you been missing by not being a member of Irish Sports Daily?
Christian French, ATH, 6-5, 215, Kennedy High School, Cedar Rapids, IA visited Notre Dame for a March Junior Day. When he returned home he told his father that, “you have to see it.” Last week Cherokee French, father of Christian finally got a chance to do so.
“He was right,” Cherokee said of Christian’s enthusiasm for the Notre Dame campus. “It was amazing. We toured the facilities, got to learn more about the rich heritage of Notre Dame. I did not know only 8000 students went there. We got to meet with more of the coaches, the Athletic Director, Admissions, Student Services; excellent facilities, great people.”
Besides Notre Dame, French currently holds scholarship offers from Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Louisville, Missouri, Nebraska, Oregon, South Florida, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Wisconsin. While he has yet to narrow his list to a more manageable number, the Irish appear to be in a very good position with him.
“All the schools are going to be hard to say no to,” said Cherokee French. “A lot of them have great facilities and everything, but I was just impressed with what it (Notre Dame) looked like yesterday.”
As a father, the elder French appreciates the efforts that the staff at Notre Dame invests in its student-athletes and their academic success.
“I like that they put so much effort into your success and your ability to graduate from Notre Dame,” stated Cherokee French. “When we went down to student services I was amazed. They said we do everything we can so kids don’t fail. I like how they said you don’t have to apply for the business school here. If that’s what you want to do you’re in. At other schools you have to apply for the business school and they look at your GPA and everything. I like how they have everything centrally located in the Gug building.”
Notre Dame is recruiting French as an outside linebacker. He got the opportunity to watch film from the Blue-Gold game to see how outside linebackers play in defensive coordinator Bob Diaco’s defense. He also got to spend time with Irish players Manti Te’o and Roby Toma.
Before the unofficial visit even ended, the French family was talking to defensive backs coach Chuck Martin about scheduling an official visit once the 2010 season begins.
Justice Hayes, RB, 5-10, 180, Grand Blanc High School, Grand Blanc, MI also visited South Bend unofficially last week. Like the French family, he and his family, specifically his grandparents that accompanied him on his visit, came away very impressed. In fact, they were so impressed that the Irish are virtually guaranteed a spot in Hayes’ final three schools.
“We went through a lot of stuff,” Hayes said of his mid-week visit. “I came out really liking what I saw. I’m going to go home, think about it with my family and I definitely have different schools and other schools. I’m going to go home and think about it, probably trim my list to three next week sometime and I’m going to go from there. I really like what I heard from Notre Dame today, and they’re definitely going to be in my top three.”
Hayes continued.
“The opportunities there, it’s better than any other school in the nation in terms of academics,” Hayes opined. “If you’re really looking at your future and want a successful future and know you can pretty much get a six-figure job, Notre Dame is the place to go. And their coaches are great. Everything is just going great for their program right now.”
Hayes got to visit with several of the incoming freshmen while eating in the cafeteria. He also met with fellow Michigan native Jonas Gray, got to tour the locker room and spent considerable time with an Admissions person and an academic advisor. He ended up in offensive coordinator Charley Molnar’s office.
“He basically said I’m their guy,” remembered Hayes. “He said they have to recruit other running backs and there are a lot of other talented guys out there like Savon Huggins, but I’m basically their guy.”
If the visit didn’t totally win over Hayes, it certainly won over his grandparents.
“They loved it,” Hayes stated. “They basically preached academics just like my parents. They ultimately said it comes down to my decision, but they said they want me to go the academic route which is either Northwestern or Notre Dame, but it’s all up to me.”
These two summaries represent just a sample of the Notre Dame football recruiting information available each week on Irish Sports Daily.
