Perfect Fit: Jordan Genmark Heath Commits to Notre Dame

After a month of decommits and dwindling recruiting class rankings, Notre Dame desperately needed some good news on the recruiting front with less than a week until Signing Day.  They got some on Thursday when 4-star safety Jordan Genmark Heath (no hyphen guys) committed to the Irish after visiting South Bend last weekend.

Since the season has ended Notre Dame lost commitments from Jordan Pouncey (WR), Elijah Hicks (S), and Paulson Adebo (CB) without picking up any new additions as Brian Kelly scrambled to completely remake his coaching staff.  The result was a slew of late offers over the last three weeks.  One of those offers was to Jordan Genmark Heath.

God, Country, Notre Dame☘️ pic.twitter.com/vX5s1y3TXl

— Jordan Genmark Heath (@SwedishBlackGuy) January 26, 2017

(*bonus points for Genmark Heath for that Allen Iverson throwback jersey)

Listed as a 3-star prospect on some services, but a 4-star on 247 Sports, Notre Dame’s newest commitment might just be a tailor fit prospect in Notre Dame’s new defense under the guidance of Mike Elko.  Part of the reason for his lower rating on some services is his positional fit.  Genmark Heath is a bit of a tweener who looks like a perfect fit for Elko’s ROVER position – a hybrid linebacker/safety that takes the place of a traditional 3rd linebacker in his base defense.

Genmark Heath (6’2″, 205 lbs) was committed to Cal at the time of his offer from Notre Dame, but has been trending towards the Irish ever since being offered.  Last weekend’s visit was just the tipping point for Notre Dame.  New defensive coordinator Mike Elko did some strong work here for Notre Dame in a short period of time.  Once Notre Dame got into the game here, Elko was all over Genmark Heath and locked this one up.  A very refreshing change from the work we saw from his predecessor on the recruiting trail.

Connections to Notre Dame

Ever since Genmark Heath picked up his Notre Dame offer the story has been that the Irish were his dream offer.  The only question was, was the offer too little to late.  Thankfully it wasn’t.  Some of that Notre Dame love could have come from a fun connection to the University.  Genmark Heath is high school teammates with Rick Mirer’s Son at Cathedral High School.

These two got after people. #GoIrish pic.twitter.com/IQbNCPajSZ

— Rick Mirer (@RickMirer) January 26, 2017

Where Notre Dame Goes from Here

With Genmark Heath’s commitment, Notre Dame sits at 16 verbal commitment six days before National Signing Day, but still has a lot of work to do.  With the recent early departure of Tarean Folston and the graduate transfer of Colin McGovern, Notre Dame has lot of room in this class and not a lot of prospects left on the board.

Russ Yeast, Evan Fields, and Kofi Wardlow also visited with Genmark Heath last weekend and are still considering the Irish.  Cornerback Tre Norwood – considered a Notre Dame lean heading into last weekend – committed to Oklahome shortly after returning home from his visit.

Notre Dame hosted linebacker Jeremiah Osuwu and defensive end Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa during the week and will be hosting wide receiver Jafar Armstrong and defensive end Jalen Harris this weekend though they would like to add to that visitor list.