Cam McDaniel Commits to Notre Dame
Notre Dame picked up it’s 17th commitment of the year on Monday when Coppell, Texas running back Cam McDaniel committed to the Irish when Brian Kelly and Kerry Cooks visited him.
Even before Notre Dame officially lost Justice Hayes to rival Michigan last week, the Irish expressed interest in McDaniel. Once Hayes switched his pledge, Notre Dame turned their attention to the shifty running back and offered him a scholarship today that he quickly accepted.
McDaniel is a shifty running back who has played in a spread offense against some of the best competition Texas has to offer. Coppell High plays in Texas’s 5A class and one of the main reasons they are still alive in the state playoffs has been the play of McDaniel.
This past weekend McDaniel ran 16 times for 142 yards with 2 touchdowns against Midland High in a 5A Division I regional playoff game. He chipped in 2 catches for 21 yards as well. This weekend he and his teammates will turn their attention to Euless Trinity in the Division I regional quarterfinals.
For the season, McDanial has rushed 287 times for 1,859 yards (6.5 average) with 31 touchdowns – all against the highest level of competition in the state of Texas. As a junior in 2009, McDaniel carried the ball 23 times for 1,210 yards (5.2 average) with 20 touchdowns while adding 57 receptions for 595 yards and another 7 touchdowns.
McDaniel picked up offers from Stanford, Iowa, and Cincinnati before committing to the Irish on Monday.
As of now, McDaniel is the only running back in this year’s class, but Notre Dame is still recruiting New Jersey speedster Savon Huggins as well. Some reports have suggested that McDaniel was recruited as a slot wide receiver, but he was targetted as a rnning back and at the very least will start his career there.
McDaniel is the first commitment for the Irish since Devaris Daniels picked the Irish at the end of September and ends a stretch that saw Notre Dame lose four commitments – Justice Hayes, Aaron Lynch, Jordan Prestwood, and Clay Burton.
We’ll have some highlights of McDaniel posted later tonight.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
Im so glad we now have two kids from Texas. Texas has tons of talent and this kid plays in 5A were the big boys are.If we can hit Dallas and Houston and even the east Texas area for recruits that would be awesome. GO IRISH!!!!!