Notre Dame, Ind (UHND) — Charlie Weis first class ended on somewhat of a low note this Signing Day with the Irish losing out Brian Roche and Lawrence Wilson. The Irish however came up with an 11 th hour commitment from Steve Quinn who was a surprise visitor this past weekend. So far 15 letters of intent are in, with 1 more possible in Eric Lorig.
Steve Quinn (6-3, 220) had committed to Penn State earlier this season, but the lure of the excellent staff at Notre Dame got him to visit the Irish this weekend. He struggled with the decision, but choice the Irish on Signing Day. Quinn’s name came up late and is an example of the aggressiveness of the new Notre Dame staff.
Lawrence Wilson decommitted to Notre Dame when Willingham was fired, but the Irish had made some huge strides thanks in part to a 7 coach in home visit. Notre Dame put on the full court press for Wilson , but in the end he choice Ohio State . Notre Dame was his other finalist, but he picked the Buckeyes today. He would have been a very nice addition to this class and I had a good feeling that he would end up at Notre Dame, but it just didn’t happen and thus created a hole at defensive end in this class.
Louisville was the college choice of Brian Roche as we found out today. I really thought the Jersey product would be playing for the Irish next year, but instead he will be joining his high school teammate Darius Mann playing for Bobby Petrino. This one surprised me a lot more than Wilson since Notre Dame lost a recruiting battle to… well Louisville . I don’t really care what their record has been over the last few years, but I certainly hope this is the last time the Irish lose a quality prospect to Louisville .
The only prospect left out there is a bit of a long shot at this point in Erik Lorig. He visited this weekend as well and reportedly had a very good visit. His commitment is a little less likely, but then again I thought Roche and Wilson would end up at Notre Dame.
I’ll have a more in depth write up of my thoughts on this class up a little later.
