A few days ago I wrote an article about Notre Dame had 4 prospects remaining and that if they got three of them the class would be a success. Well, Notre Dame received letters of intent from all 4 of them giving them 22 scholarships and one of their best classes in years.

Wide Receivers Chase Anastacio and Ambrose Wooden, defensive end Victor Abiamiri, and linebacker Mitchell Thomas have all committed to Notre Dame in the last 24 hours and have given Notre Dame a top 5 caliber class. While Notre Dame may not have gotten all the offensive linemen and running backs they wanted, the class is very strong. It does put emphasis on running backs and offensive linemen next year however.

With Abiamiri, Notre Dame gets it first standout defensive end in years. Abiamiri is a top notch prospect who has the ability to contribute immediately at Notre Dame. Ryan Roberts graduated leaving a starting spot open. Justin Tuck will most likely fill that position, but Abiamiri has the chance to come in and challenge Kyle Budinscak for the other starting spot. His commitment was huge for Notre Dame. He will team with Justin Tuck who has 3 years of eligibility left to give Notre Dame a pair of dominating defensive ends.

With Anastacio and Wooden Notre Dame gets a lot of athleticism and versatility. Both players were recruited as wide receivers, but could play in the defensive backfield in college. Wooden is listed with 4.3 speed so he gives Notre Dame the burner they were looking for. Wooden and Anastacio give Notre Dame a very solid group of receivers in this class with Chindum Nduwke and Jeff Samardzija.

With Mitchell Thomas, Notre Dame got a great linebacker prospect who brings 4.5 speed with him. He is a hard hitter and it was a great job by the coaches to go down into Alabama and pull out two of the states best prospects (Labrose Hedgmon also signed with Notre Dame). I thought Thomas was the least likely of the final four to come to ND, but he is signed giving Notre Dame 4 linebackers in this class. Thomas' commit most likely speeds up Dwight Stephenson being moved to DE. Nick Borsetti, Joe Brockington, and Mitchell Thomas give Notre Dame a great linebacking core in this class.

Willingham and staff definitely closed strong. Had they been able to get Mike Jones and Joe Thomas this would have been the #1 class in the country. As it is, this is a top 5 caliber class. Notre Dame came away set at QB, TE, WR, DL, LB, S, CB, and P. The only positions they came up short was OL, where they signed 2 outstanding top notch offensive linemen in Ryan Harris and John Sullivan the problem was however that they came up short on #'s and RB with David Marreo's decommitment and the loss of Reggie Bush to USC.

The defense was helped out more with this class with Abiamiri, Tom Zibowski, Freddie Parrish, Labrose Hedgmon, Isaiah Gardner (who could move to RB), Trevor Laws, and the linebackers. On offense Notre Dame got some good athletes in Wooden, Anastacio, Brady Quinn, Travis Thomas, Chindum Nduwke, Jeff Samardzija, Ashley McConnell, Greg Olsen, John Carlson, and the offensive linemen. This was a great class for Notre Dame will help in the Return to Glory.