A big weekend recruiting at Notre Dame paid dividends even before the start of Saturday's Blue-Gold Game as Notre Dame received verbal commitments from a trio of prospects, according to multiple sources.
Maryland athlete Ronald Darby was the first to pull the trigger, notifying Irish head coach Brian Kelly of his decision in the morning. Texas safety Nicky Baratti followed Darby by offering his pledge and then it was Illinois long snapper Scott Daly's turn to do so when he was offered a scholarship
Darby (Oxon Hill, Md./Potomac High School) couldn't wait to arrive at South Bend for Notre Dame’s Blue-Gold game to see what all the talk was about. The Irish, along with Florida and North Carolina, had really caught the junior’s eye early in recruiting.
The talented Potomac athlete was asked exactly what he liked about the Irish.
“I love their tradition, the academics, and just that they have the history of being a winning program…period,” said Darby.
The electrifying athlete, who ran a 4.31 in the 40 yard dash at the Under Armour All-American Combine, had been developing a great relationship with the Irish coaching staff, and one coach in particular.
“Me and Coach Cooks have a real good bond,” claimed the four-star prospect in an interview earlier this year. “I really like Coach Cooks. He’s a real good coach, I enjoy talking to him. He’s a coach that tells me about Notre Dame and what they’re trying to do, but we also talk about other things. He’s a coach I can really communicate with.
“Sometimes I forget he’s a recruiting coach or a coach at ND. I feel like I’m talking to my friend on the phone. That’s how cool Coach Cooks is. He‘s really selling the school a lot. It really makes me like ND even more knowing that’ll be my coach.”
The addition of Darby and Tee Shepard gives Notre Dame two of the top athletes in the 2012 class to their depth chart in the defensive backfield, and a tremendous infusion of talent for the future.
“I got 23 tackles, nine pass-breakups, two interceptions, and two touchdowns on defense (interception and fumble return),” said the junior, in a previous interview, when asked about how he fared on defense last year.
The 5-foot-11, 175-pound Maryland star had over 15 offers from very good college programs such as California, Florida, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
ISD will have more with Darby, Baratti and Daly after their visit.
