Notre Dame, IN (UHND.com) – Gary Gray enrolled at Notre Dame this January to get an early start on his college, but a broken arm in Notre Dame’s second practice has cut his spring short. The freshman cornerback will be out 4-6 weeks and miss the entire spring. Gray’s injury allowed for the move of Munir Prince from running back to corner – a move Weis and the sophomore had previously discussed.
Gray broke his arm during one on one drills on Friday and will have his arm in a sling for the next 4-6 weeks. The injury occurred when Gray fell down during the drill. The injury will end what was looking like a very promising spring for the South Carolina native. All reports out of spring practice had indicated that Gray was working his way up the depth chart at corner back.
Meanwhile, Gray’s injury expedited a move that Weis had been thinking about for a while. Sophomore running back Munir Prince showed a lot of promise at running back last year, but for the first time in years Notre Dame will be absolutely loaded at the position which allowed Prince to move to corner where he’ll be able to soften the blow from Gray’s absence.
Prince is no stranger to the position – he played corner during his junior year of high school when he earned all state honors. During his senior year, however, he was exclusively a running back.
Irish fans should also be encouraged that last year then defensive coordinator Rick Minter really wanted Prince on the defensive side of the ball before he ever reported to campus. “My defensive coaches are killing me to try to get him at corner,” Weis said at last year’s Signing Day press conference before adding, “By the way, he’s not going to corner, Rick, if you’re listening to me anywhere, okay?”
Prince definitely has the speed to play the corner position as one of the fastest members of the Notre Dame roster and if Rick Minter’s opinion (insert joke here) from last year means anything, he should have the skill to provide depth and challenge for playing time.
Still, the injury has to be extremely disappointing to Gray who passed up the last semester of high school to enroll early. The injury does not mean, however, that Gray won’t be able to crack the two deep this year. He still participated in all of the voluntary seven on seven drills this winter and can still observe practice and learn the defense.
The move of Prince to corner should also signal to Notre Dame fans that Weis is very comfortable with the talent the Irish have at running back. With fifth year senior Travis Thomas, sophomore James Aldridge, senior Junior Jabbie, and freshmen Armando Allen (already on campus) and RObert Hughes (reporting this summer), Weis realizes he has a loaded backfield filled with different styles of backs. The move could also mean Armando Allen, another early enrollee, has been impressive since many envisioned Allen as a similar back to Prince with his pure speed.
All in all, this is the type of move Notre Dame could not have made last year because of the lack of depth at positions and is a sign that Weis is doing a great job of restocking the cupboard through recruiting.
