So, on a day that was reserved for the official celebration of the official return of Michael Floyd. A recruiting story pops up that is pure “recruiting” in nature. What I mean by that is- well… I’m not exactly sure. If you follow recruiting closely, or even just a little bit, then you know ther is some shady stuff, and then some really shady stuff. As a side dish, you also get something that makes you scratch your dome…
Sheldon Day
Defensive Tackle
Indianapolis, Indiana
Sheldon Day is Irish. The monster four star defensive tackle from Warren Central High School chose Notre Dame over offers from schools such as: Florda, LSU, Michigan, and Michigan State. Day is the 13th commitment for Notre Dame’s incoming class of 2012.
Day is a HUGE commitment for the Irish in a lot of ways. Warren Central ia a powerhouse in the state of Indiana, and produces some very, very good talent each year- but never sends that talent north to South Bend. Getting our foot in the door is key in recruiting future prospects from an instate school as loaded as Warren Central.
What’s kind of odd, is that a few years ago, a commitment from a guy like Day would have castes him into the “savior” role for the defensive line. Good recruiting and development has made a commitment like this more about building and developing depth.
Speaking of depth, when Day arrives in 2012, Notre Dame could possibly have Cwynar, Newman, and H. Williams all back for a 5th year at nose tackle. You could throw Stockton in the nose tackle mix, and Louis Nix will still have 3 years of eligibility remaining. So in 2013, we could just be left with Nix and Day- and that would be far too thin.
It is 2013 that makes this next part of the story so interesting. Tommy Schutt, a top 50 player overall by Rivals, wanted to visit Notre Dame and commit to them to play nose tackle starting in 2012. Schutt was denied by Kelly. Schutt was told there was no longer any room on the roster for him. This caused quite a stir around the Irish blogosphere. Turning away antop 50 player?! Blasphemy!!!
There are a couple of possible scenarios as to why. One of those might be that Notre Dame could still be the final destination for another top defensive lineman in Jarron Jones. Perhaps the Irish are closer to getting Jones to commit than we know, and didn’t want to scare him off. Who knows?
Michigan also turned Schutt away- which begs the question, is Schutt overrated by the recruiting services? I have no real answer to give, but it could be very possible that he is.
The sad part is that a young man wanted to go to Notre Dame, had an invite in hand, and then was told no at the last second. I think that is where anlot of the fan outrage is placed. However, damning Kelly and the staff for this move is fruitless. Kelly has a plan- a big overall plan, and each move is dictated by that. Inshall trust in that judgement until proved not only wrong- but detrimental.
Welcome to ND Sheldon!!!!
