Down the Stretch We Come – Numbers for ’12

recruiting numbers
Notre Dame heads into the final stretch of recruiting pushing right up against the 85 scholarship limit this year. (Photo - Robin Alam/Icon SMI)

With the commitment of Ronnie Stanley to Notre Dame earlier this week, the question of how many remaining spots Notre Dame has left has come up.  Here’s a run down of how many scholarships Notre Dame has committed for 2012 and how many are remaining.

To do this, we’ll take a look at  the returning players at each position quickly.

  • Quarterback (3) – Tommy Rees (Jr), Andrew Hendrix (Jr)*, Everett Golson (So)*
  • Running Back (5) – Cierre Wood (Sr)*, Theo Riddick (Sr), George Atkinson III (So), Cam McDaniel (So), Cameron Roberson (Jr)*
  • Wide Receiver (6) – Robby Toma (Sr), TJ Jones (Jr), Daniel Smith (Jr), Luke Massa (Jr), DaVaris Daniels (So)*, Matthias Farley (So)*
  • Tight End (4) – Tyler Eifert (Sr), Jake Golic (Sr), Alex Welch (Jr)*, Ben Koyack (So)
  • Offensive Line (11) – Jordan Cowart (Sr), Zach Martin (Sr), Chris Watt (Sr), Bruce Heggie (Jr), Christian Lombard (Jr), Tate Nichols (Jr), Brad Carrico (So), Conor Hanratty (S0), Matt Hegarty (S0), Nick Martin (So), Jordan Prestwood (S0)
  • Defensive Line (7) – Tyler Stockton (Sr)*, Louis Nix (Jr)*, Kona Schwenke (Jr),  Chase Hounshell (So), Aaron Lynch (So), Stephon Tuitt (So), Tony Sprigmann (So)*
  • Linebacker (12) – Manti Te’o (Sr), Carlo Calabrese (Sr)*, Dan Fox (Sr)*, Kendal Moore (Jr)*, Prince Shembo (Jr), Danny Spond (Jr), Justin Utupo (Jr)*, Ben Councell (So), Jarrett Grace (S0), Troy Niklas (So), Anthony Rabassa (S0), Ishaq Williams (So).
  • Cornerback (4) – Bennett Jackson (Jr), Lo Wood (Jr), Josh Atkinson (So), Jalen Brown (So)
  • Safety (3) – Zeke Motta (Sr), Austin Collinsworth (Jr), Eilar Hardy (So)
  • Specialists (3) – Ben Turk (Sr), Nick Tausch (Sr), Kyle Brindza (So)

Add all of that up and you get 58 which would give Notre Dame a total of 26 available scholarships.

Now, add in Chris Badger who will be back from his mission and we are up to 59 scholarships allotted and 25 available.

Notre Dame currently has the following 16 recruits committed to this year’s class as well.

  • Running Back (1) – Will Mahone
  • Wide Receiver (3) – Deontay Greenberry, Justin Ferguson, Chris Brown
  • Offensive Line (4) – Ronnie Stanley, Taylor Decker, Mark Harrell, Scott Daly
  • Defensive Line (2) – Jarron Jones, Sheldon Day
  • Linebacker (1) – Romeo Okwara
  • Cornerback (2) – Ronald Darby, Tee Shepard
  • Safety (3) – John Turner, CJ Prosise, Nick Baratti

Add in those 16 recruits and we’re up to 75 scholarships leaving Notre Dame with 10 scholarships remaining (assuming no transfers and the return of Tyler Eifert) for remaining recruits and 5th year seniors.

For 5th year seniors, Notre Dame has 13 players eligible for 5th years – John Goodman (WR), Deion Walker (WR), Braxston Cave (OL), Lane Clelland (OL), Jake Golic (TE), Sean Cwynar (NT), Kapron Lewis-Moore (DE), Hafis Williams (DL), Brandon Newman (DL), Anthony McDonald (LB), David Posloszny (LB), Dan McCarthy (S), Jamoris Slaughter (S).

Of those 11 eligible players, it would seem as though Cave, Cwynar, Lewis-Moore, and Slaughter are the only locks to come back.  Assuming that, Notre Dame would have a total of 6 scholarships remaining to be used on recruits and remaining 5th year players.  Of the eight players with 5th year eligibility I didn’t include as locks, John Goodman and Mike Golic Jr are the only ones to have seen much playing time over their careers and most of Golic’s came at the end of this season after Braxston Cave was lost to injury.  Depending on who Notre Dame is able to land down the the stretch though, either could end up back in South Bend in 2012.

The real x-factor in all of this is, as always, transfers and any players moving over to medical scholarships due to injuries.  Normal attrition will factor into how many scholarships Notre Dame really has available right now.  Bottom line right now though, even if Golic Jr and Goodman were to return, Notre Dame would have at least another 4 scholarships to give out in this class and with a lot of prospects left on the board that could easily create a numbers crunch that could squeeze out 5th years for either Goodman or Golic as both appear to be luxuries as opposed to necessities for 2012 at this point.

In some future posts, we’ll take a look at who Notre Dame has left on the board at each position and try to figure out where the remaining 4-6 scholarships may end up.

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10 Comments

  1. With the loss of Kiel to LSU we’re going to have to go after at least 2 QBs in the 2013 class, one of them a primo. As for next year – it could get a little scary with only 3 of them if one goes down for a while.

    Kiel looks like a good kid. I hope he doesn’t rue the day.

  2. Well, I hope we have Eifert back and close out this class strong now that Barkley has elected to come back for his senior year. My god we have to beat them after all that obnoxious quitter stuff.

  3. Thanks for the rundown. A couple of items:

    -Does Eifert have just one year of eligibility left? I don’t remember seeing much of him early on.
    -I think you have your Golics juxtaposed at some point in this article.

  4. Wow, I think this article is one of the few where I’ve seen Deon Walker’s name since we were excited about him committing to ND. What a disappointment he has been. I’m a little worried about our Wrs next year. I originally thought TJ would fill Floyds shoes but while he is serviceable I don’t think he is an elite WR. Next year will be the first in a while that I’ve worried about the WRs. We have been spoiled with Floyd, Tate, Samardez (sp), McKnight, and Stovall.

    1. Which numbers, exactly, are you referring too? If you just add up his numbers, it should be 85. Although if you add up the numbers he has in brackets it’s only 84, because he named 3 safety prospects, but only accounted for 2…. At least that’s my guess why you’re off a little….

      1. I should’ve said – the people, if you count the names he listed….85 – if you count the numbers 84…sorry.

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