If you haven’t already heard, Michigan prep running back, Justice Hayes has “re-opened” his recruitment after being committed to Notre Dame for quite some time. “Re-opened” is a nice way of saying he is decommitting and he is more than likely gone for good. (Look for either a Michigan or Tennessee “commitment” in the near future).
Hayes was just up to Notre Dame on a recruiting visit, and was actively trying to get other prep stars to commit to the Irish. He stated that he was “just uncomfortable” with a couple of things, and that “something” happened.
I have no idea what exactly those couple of things could be, but I have some ideas. The disturbing thing about this, is unlike Prestwood, Burton, and Lynch (3 other decommits in the past month) Justice looked to be as solid of a commitment that Notre Dame had in this recruiting class. Also disturbing, is that the commitment of Hayes can probably be linked to Notre Dame not offering Fort Wayne (Bishop Dwenger) running back, Remound Wright- a back who was singled out as being one of the top players to attend Notre Dame’s football camp in the summer. Wright has since committed to play for Jim Harbaugh and the Stanford Cardinal.
So here’s what I say… fuck it. It’s not that we don’t need a running back like Justice Hayes on the roster, it’s just not an immediate need in my opinion. Notre Dame is in very good shape with Savon Huggins, and even if Huggins doesn’t come to ND, the Irish will have Cierre Wood, Jonas Gray, and Cameron Roberson on the depth chart. In fact, Wood and Roberson could be on the depth chart as a tandem for the next 3 years.
Running back is not one of those positions you have to recruit great every year. You can do it every other year, and use your redshirts accordingly. I didn’t see this Hayes decommitment coming at all, but that doesn’t mean I am shocked by it either. This is the world of recruiting, and there are no signs of it getting any less fucked up.
In other recruiting “news”… There are a lot of rumors swirling around about other possible decommits. Some are far-fetched, but others seem to have legs to them. If you want a list of names to watch closely, I have a short one… Ben Councell. He is probably the next to say goodbye. Honestly though, if you are a recruiting nut, I recommend you get yourself some prescription strength sedatives and try to remain calm. The next 2 and a half months are going to be a bumpy ride.
