Notre Dame picked up its 11th commitment in the recruiting class of 2012 on Sunday when instate safety prospect John Turner committed to the Irish just a few days after officially receiving an offer from Brian Kelly.
Turner only received an offer from Notre Dame three days ago after performing well at Notre Dame’s latest camp on Thursday, but it didn’t take long for him to make the decision to commit. Before Thursday the staff had told him that they wanted to see him in person before making an offer and the Indianapolis native impressed the coaches enough to earn an offer. Turner told the Indianapolis Star that he ran a 4.5 40 at the camp to answer the staff’s questions about his speed.
Turner, a 3-star recruit according to Rivals, is a bit of a project recruit for the Irish, but has a lot of upside potential. At 6’2′, 200 lbs, he already has the size to play safety and with his self reporting 40 time from Notre Dame’s camp it’s easy to see why the staff liked him enough to make an offer. Brian Kelly believes in recruiting to a profile and Turner fits that profile at safety to a tee – big, strong, and fast. Some Notre Dame fans are sure to focus on his offer list which doesn’t include any major power house programs, but this is a case where the fans need to trust the staff and until the staff gives fans to do otherwise that’s exactly what fans should do.
Below are some highlights of Brown from YouTube showing a big safety that tackles very well.
[youtube]e6RE6Mf6zI4[/youtube]
Notre Dame has five commitments in the defensive backfield alone already this year with Turner joining fellow safeties CJ Prosise and Nick Baratti and cornerbacks Tee Sheppard and Ronald Darby. Brian Kelly said that defensive back would be a priority this year and he wasn’t lying. Notre Dame has done a good job of restocking the depth in the secondary this year much the way they did with the defensive line last year. It’s unfortunate that holes in some previous recruiting classes forced their hand, but it’s great to see Notre Dame building depth in the secondary after largely striking out on safeties the last few years.
Turner is also the second in-state recruit to commit to Notre Dame this year joining running back/linebacker commit David Perkins.
