Loyola of Maryland took a much slower route to the NCAA lacrosse championship game than the Greyhounds are accustomed to.Signing Day for Notre Dame hit a sour note as the program waited for its West Coast commitments to send in their letters of intent.
After a morning of no drama, the Irish lost prize receiver Deontay Greenberry to Houston on Wednesday. Greenberry is rated a four-star prospect by Rivals.com and Scout.com and had been committed to Notre Dame since May.
The cousin of cornerback Tee Shepard, who enrolled early at Notre Dame, was expected to help offset the loss of Michael Floyd to graduation.
Greenberry’s defection left the Irish with two receivers – three-star prospects Chris Brown and Justin Ferguson – in their 16-member recruiting class. The Irish also added running back Amir Carlisle, a transfer from USC who will have to sit out this season.
“Losing Deontay Greenberry, no question is a blow,” 247Sports recruiting analyst Steve Wiltfong said. “Notre Dame was looking to add more playmakers on offense, and he’s certainly one of the best in the country. Notre Dame is still bringing in one of the top receivers in the state of Florida in Justin Ferguson, and they are bringing another outstanding athlete from South Carolina named Chris Brown, a standout in track and field, that can soften the blow.”
The loss of Greenberry took some of the shine off the Irish’s recruiting class.
Notre Dame dropped from 247Sports’ Top 10 classes to No. 16. Rivals.com ranked the Irish’s class No. 21, Scout.com put it at No. 18, and ESPNU ranked it No. 9.
“It’s hard to be disappointed about someone you never had or you never coached,” coach Brian Kelly said of Greenberry opting not to come to Notre Dame. “To me, I’m more excited about the guys we have.”
Notre Dame has plenty to be excited about in Kelly’s second full recruiting class.
The nation’s top-rated pro-style quarterback Gunner Kiel is already enrolled along with Shepard and defensive lineman Sheldon Day. Kiel, a Columbus East product, committed to Indiana then LSU before ending up with the Irish.
“We never felt like we were done recruiting,” Kelly said. “Even though Gunner had made his decision, there seemed to be a connection there that we weren’t ready to give up on at present. And we were right.”
Notre Dame replenished a secondary that lost safety Harrison Smith and cornerbacks Gary Gray and Robert Blanton to graduation with Shepard, Nicky Baratti, C.J. Prosise, Elijah Shumate and John Turner. And the Irish added four-star running back prospects William Mahone and KeiVarae Russell.
“Notre Dame has a good class, and it’s a good follow up to last year (when Notre Dame had a top-10 recruiting class),” CBS Sports recruiting analyst Tom Lemming said.
