Irish Sports Daily

Saturday, May 18th

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National Outlook

Wednesday, 03 April 2013 13:55 Jon Kinne

AnthonyMoten2 Most Irish fans are aware by now that Wellington, Fla. offensive lineman K.C. McDermott picked Miami over the Irish on April 2nd. However, going a bit under the radar was the commitment of another Notre Dame target to a different Florida school.

Defensive tackle Anthony Moten of St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. committed to the Florida Gators on the same day as McDermott. The 6-foot-4, 279-pound Moten (pictured) is a four-star prospect in just about everyone’s eyes and is the eighth player to commit to the Gators for 2014. Along with Florida and Notre Dame, Moten had offers from Alabama, Florida State, Ohio State, USC, and Clemson.

Florida’s Cocktail Party foe, the Georgia Bulldogs, also added a four-star defensive tackle to their commitment list. 6-foot-3, 300-pound Dontavius Russell of Carrollton, Ga. has decided to head to Athens for his college years. Russell has visited the Georgia campus multiple times and told the Athens Banner-Herald that his comfort level with the program, and specifically head coach Mark Richt, were the main reasons for his decision. He picked Georgia over Florida, Auburn, Alabama, and Clemson.

Iowa Athlete Set To Visit

Tuesday, 02 April 2013 08:05 Christian McCollum

MattNelson1 Matt Nelson could help a college program in a number of ways, but the 2014 Iowa athlete isn’t concerned with exactly how at this point.

“Just whatever gets me on the field,” the 6-foot-8, 245-pounder from Xavier High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa said.

Nelson currently has offers from Iowa, Iowa State, Stanford, San Diego State and Yale. He’s also receiving interest from schools like Notre Dame, Nebraska, Minnesota and Michigan. His unique frame has had college coaches suggest he could play tight end, offensive tackle, defensive end or linebacker.

“Many of the coaches have told me that I’m a big kid who can move very well for my size,” Nelson said.

Recruiting Week in Review

Tuesday, 02 April 2013 07:53 Joe Bradshaw

JonathanLockett1 Recruiting has become a year round effort with more plot twists than a best-selling mystery novel. Recruitniks know that while verbal commitments are great morale boosts for fanbases, they are non-binding. Great recruiting classes in August can become quite mediocre by February. One needs look no farther than USC’s 2013 recruiting class to see a prime example.

Despite the unstable nature of recruiting the fact is that most verbal pledges do sign letters of intent with the schools to whom they originally pledged. As a result coaches work very hard to get early commitments though they continue to recruit committed prospects just as hard as they do uncommitted ones. Last week Irish Sports Daily spoke to an uncommitted prospect and the coach of another one. Both expressed great interest in Notre Dame. What have you been missing by not being a member of Irish Sports Daily?

2015 RB A Unique Talent

Monday, 01 April 2013 16:42 Christian McCollum

NewRecruitingLogo Madison Southern (Berea, Ky.) High School head coach Jon Clark isn’t surprised by all of the attention 2015 running back Damien Harris has received.

“He’s got a really rare combination of size and speed,” Clark said. “I wouldn’t even say for his age, I would just say in general. He’s 5-10, 205 pounds and runs a 4.35, so he has a unique combination of both power and explosiveness.

“I coached in college for nine years and he’s as unique of a talent as I’ve ever been around.”

Irish Offer 2015 QB

Monday, 01 April 2013 13:28 Sean Mele

JackBeneventi1 Notre Dame has offered their second quarterback from the class of 2015 and they decided to let Jack Beneventi know about the big news on Easter Sunday, no less.

“I got a text from my high school coach that told me to call Coach (Chuck) Martin,” Beneventi explained. “So I gave him a call and we talked a while and then he offered me. He said they were 100 percent ready to do it and they did it on Easter.”