Last month Junior to be Gary Gray did not make the trip to Hawaii with the team for the Hawaii Bowl for personal reasons. Now it is bring reported that he is not enrolled at Notre Dame for the spring semester according to today’s South Bend Tribune.
Notre Dame sophomore cornerback Gary Gray, who missed the Hawaii Bowl for personal reasons, is not enrolled at ND for the spring semester.
That doesn’t mean he is necessarily done with Notre Dame. Federal privacy laws keep Weis tongue-tied on the subject, but the expectation is for a return to school and the team in the summer of 2009 for the 5-foot-11, 188-pound Columbia, S.C. product.
The best case scenario for Notre Dame right now would be if this was similar to what happened with Pat Kuntz last spring. Kuntz was not enrolled for the Spring semester but came back in time for fall camp.
Gray played quite a bit in 2008 and looked primed to challenge for a starting role in 2009 with Raeshon McNeil and Robert Blanton. Losing him would be a huge blow to the depth at cornerback on this team. Even if sophomore to be Robert Blanton ends up starting opposite Darrin Walls (assuming he returns) in 2009, losing Gray would leave the Irish with just one experienced corner to provide depth for the nickel and dime packages. As we found out at the tight end position this year, losing talented players at positions that may appear to be full of depth and talent can come back to bit you in the end.
Notre Dame desperately needs to embrace diversity at every level (President, Professors, Student Body) if it ever hope to attract star African American athletes like they had during Lou Holtz’s Chocolate Thunder 1988 Championship year.
Notre Dame has a five years window to win a major bowl game or be relegated to insignificance like Navy football.
Beating Hawaii was a joke. Let’s see if you can keep the score within thirty against USC or Miami.
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ND’s Gray hoping to return for summer school
January 19, 2009 11:00 AM
Posted by ESPN.com’s Graham Watson
Notre Dame sophomore cornerback Gary Gray hopes to return to Notre Dame in the summer, according to a family member close member to Gray.
According to the family member, Gray is not enrolled this semester because of academic issues. Those issues forced Gray to miss the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, but the family member said Gray is hopeful that those issues won’t stop him from re-enrolling during the summer session to get back in good academic standing.
Notre Dame spokesman Brian Hardin said he couldn’t speak specifically about Gray’s situation because of privacy laws, which limit the release of private information, but did say that Gray has not been suspended, and should he re-enroll in school, he will be allowed back on the football team.
Gray was a backup to Raeshon McNeil this season. He saw action in nine games and had 15 tackles, two interceptions, two pass breakups, four passes defended and a recovered fumble.
According to the family member, Gray is spending the spring semester back in his hometown of Columbia, S.C., working out with a personal trainer and trying to get prepared to both attend Notre Dame and play for the Irish again
Is Clifford Jefferson available? May be the worst corner I ever saw
Yup Pollard is goin to UCLA now, its disappointing but what can you do. Hopefully we can land either Teo or Jenkins. i aslo hear that we have a shot at illinois DE micheal buchanan, and USC safety Byron Moore. as for the unis, i love the currint uniforms, simple and classy. like all the great uniforms in sports.
haha well this will be my 2nd post saying “wait a tick” but I am very optimistic about this group. They haven’t really proven anything yet, but the talent level is definately there. I will be excited to see if any of them turn into a playmaker. I had talked about that great D from the early 2000s.
Here is a great clip of some shane walton stuff from youtube..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLA95wGRgBk
Those are things that playmakers just do. Zibby was a playmaker who created turnovers and scores through special teams, forced fumbles, big hits. Walton made plays on the ball in coverage. I’m very excited to see if we get one of those out of this group. More than just a coverage guy. a Playmaker.
On a side note, I really love the ND uni’s from the early 2000s. I miss having the interlocking ND on the shoulders.
I just read that Pollard is definitely going to UCLA now.
If Gray were leaving both he and Weis would have announced it. Otherwise, I’d expect if he’s going to be a positive influence, he’ll return. Julius Jones had issues and then returned to great success. Kyle McAlarney…..same thing….different problem. wwe don’t need to know why, but I’d relax on this one for those who fear the worst. I’ll bet he’ll make a concerted effort to return and will return.
I don’t know whats going on with us losing recruits and coaches leaving. But, it’s the opposite I thought would happen after winning a bowl.
Thanks for he update Jason.
I do not want to lose Gray. He is a superb cover guy. It would hurt us and him.
walls is coming back next year hes transferring his units currently.
isnt walls already enrolled in school?? can anyone answer that?? i think i read on here that he was enrolled in school but anyways gray should stay!! what i think happened with kuntz walls and gray is that they got into some academic trouble and thats there personal reason for leave for a semester…its not like there kicked out of school and if they(walls and gray)wanted to transfer we would have heard so already.. one more thing didnt Munir Prince transfer to mozzu like a year or two ago?? haha
uhhhh… i think you’re about a year late on that one buddy… maybe you should concern yourself more with facts (and perhaps paying any sort of attention to the team), rather than a poor punchline …and justin, they were good, but im talking about skill + depth at the corner spots (assuming walls returns, and gray stays)
Gotta say if we have Walls, Blanton, McNeil, Gray, Slaughter, and Pollard in 2009 this would be the best group of corners we’ve had since Bobby Taylor and Burris were back in the secondary in the early 90’s.
I just read in the Chicago SCUM-times that DB Munir Prince just left the team as well. I havent seen this much jumping ship and swimming to safety since Ted Kennedy drove his car off the Chappaquitic Bridge. Whats going on in South Bend?
haha dont get ahead of yourself yet… has anyone heard an update on walls? I think we have a big potential for next year. blanton really looked like a player last year… soo if things work out… “most skill since…?” gotta go with the shane walton/duff combo of 2001/2002. Not only did those two dominate. they had gerome sapp and glenn earl playing safety behind them. both played on sunday. i wonder if our safeties will develop the same.
A two deep between walls/mcneil/gray/blanton??? WOW. Most skill and depth at the corner position since….?