Irish Fail to Close, Still Have Quality Class
UHND.com - Frank Vitovitch
February 7, 2001

Notre Dame, Ind - Coming into today Notre Dame had 20 verbal commitments with the possibility of three more in the form of Lydell Ross, Shuan Cody, and Alvin Pearman.  These three players could have taken Notre Dame's class to another level.  However, the Irish and Bob Davie failed to close the door on these recruits and all three went else where making for a very disappointing signing day, one of the most disappointing in recent years.

Notre Dame is loaded at running back with Cory Jones, Rashon Powers-Neal, Ryan Grant, and Marcus Wilson.  Adding Pearman and Ross however would have put Notre Dame is excellent position.  The good thing about all the running backs is that running backs can make great defensive backs or linebackers.   Notre Dame's two best defenders in 2000, Tony Driver and Anthony Denman, were high school running backs and were recruited as such by Notre Dame.

Ross and Pearman both liked Notre Dame a lot.   Pearman called Notre Dame the "best" recently when asked about his decision.  Ross went so far as to commit to Notre Dame just over a week ago.  He then went on to visit Florida and decommit.  Then he decided to visit Ohio State and ended up signing there today.  Had Notre Dame been his final visit, I really think Notre Dame would have got his signature today.  Pearman was a bigger surprise even though he had originally committed to Virginia.

The loss of Pearman and Ross both hurt, but not as bad as the loss of Shuan Cody.  Notre Dame's defensive line recruiting was very strange this year and did not produce what you would call a difference making crew as of now.   Things looked great with Pat Massey, Thomas Derricks, Shuan Cody, and Charles Rush all having high interest in Notre Dame.  Massey committed to Michigan.  Rush to Penn State.  Notre Dame dropped Derricks when he was leaning there way.  Then today Cody committed to USC.  That leaves Notre Dame with Jeff Thompson, Brian Beidatsch, and Justin Tuck with the possibility of Cory Mays moving to DL down the road.   Many analysts thought Thompson would be better suited at OL, but the Irish already have five commitments there.  Beidatsch was recruited very late leaving many to believe that he was a back up plan for ND.  However, Brian has an excellent attitude and could prove to be a fine player in the future. 

Overall, Notre Dame landed a quality class, not a top five class, but rankings don't mean much anyway.  Notre Dame failed to address their problems on the defensive line and in the secondary this year directly.  With all the "athletes" Notre Dame recruited though, the secondary problem could be solved.   The Irish got Lionel Bolen, Quinten Burrell, and Dwight Ellick as pure d-backs.   Bolen looks very promising since he is 6-1, with 4.4 speed.  Ellick has outstanding speed and the coaches are very high on him.  Burrell is probably more of a safety prospect rather than corner.  Notre Dame lost out however when Greg Golden, a pure corner, committed to NC State this past weekend.  Carlos Campbell, a wide receiver commit, may have a future in the defensive backfield as could Ryan Grant, Marcus Wilson, or Cory Jones.

One thing Notre Dame did a great job addressing this year was the offensive line.  Mark Levoir, Zach Giles, Darin Mitchel, Dan Stevenson, and Aldo De La Garza give Notre Dame a great group of five.  LeVoir is a force and the most highly touted of the group.  Mitchel and Garza are the sleepers of the group.   Garza is one of the strongest players ever to come to Notre Dame and the coaches were hot after Mitchel.  Stevenson was originally a Nebraska commit which proves his talent.

This is a good class.  Notre Dame got great athletes and address the need of speed with Matt Shelton (4.29), Dwight Ellick (4.3), Ryan Grant (4.4), Marcus Wilson (4.4), Brandon Hoyte (4.5), and Lionel Bolen (4.4).  Hoyte is very fast for a linebacker as will Powers-Neal be at 4.55.  This is a different class in that no one knows where just about half the class is going to end up.  Its a versatile class that can address many needs for this team.  The coaches have a lot of possibilities with this class and can make this an outstanding class by moving players to where they are best suited or make it a mediocre class leaving everyone play where they want, rather than where they are best suited.