Let the Irish Invasion Begin

Andrew Holleran of Collegespun.com included the above video from Notre Dame Football in his article on the Irish Invasion. Similar to this a movie trailer hype, this season looks equally as exciting as the video hypes Irish Invasion 2015. With quite a few of the top 100 Rivals recruits in attendance at Notre Dame Stadium for the biggest event of The Fighting Irish’s Summer especially with nearly 100 candidates under the lights.

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Busting Brackets

When a traditional powerhouse has elite coaching it is only a matter of getting the right combination of incoming talent to bridge the gap from being great to being the greatest. Events such as this lay the foundation for the future of Irish Football. As Wells and Ivins indicated there are many story lines heading into this event.

"The Storylines We could write a book about the Irish Invasion. Of course we’re kidding, but we probably could. There will be tons of different news tidbits that develop this weekend, but here are three themes to keep in mind. DB Galore — Arguably the top position group of the event in terms of talent and sheer numbers is secondary prospects. Coincidentally that’s also expected to be the largest group of takes for Notre Dame this cycle. Notable prospects in-attendance just at safety include: Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy three-star safety Spencer Perry, Smyrna (Tenn.) High three-star safety Ikenna Okeke, Palm Beach Gardens (Fla.) High three-star safety Devin Studstill and Corona (Calif.) Centennial three-star safety Chacho Ulloa. There’s a chance that one or more could decide on a commitment soon, either this weekend or in the following days after. Undoubtedly, how the defensive back class starts shaping up is an interesting narrative to follow during the weekend and in the coming days. Commitment Watch? — Supplementing the large group of secondary targets is a few players at other positions that are highly favorable with Notre Dame. Last year’s Irish Invasion did not produce a single commitment during or at the conclusion of the weekend — which is an important note — but a few emerged down the road that pointed to the event as a swaying factor in their recruitment. The Irish could become the favorite for a few prospects pending an offer, including 2017 Cincinnati St. Xavier offensive lineman Matt Bockhorst and Williamsburg (Va.) Lafayette linebacker Chase Pine. Ulloa and his close teammate, Corona (Ca.) Centennial wide receiver Javon McKinley will now be on-campus for the second time together, and still plan to take a third trip to campus together for the USC game in October. Brownsburg (Ind.) High rising junior quarterback Hunter Johnson might be the top target for the program in the entire 2017 class, and he could announce a decision by the end of the summer. Juniors … Everywhere — Many coaches will point towards getting underclassmen on campus early in the process as a key recruiting tool, because it lays the foundation for the recruitment. Well, that’s good news for the Irish, because the staff is expected to host a number of the top-ranked national players in the 2017 class. In addition to Johnson, Cypress (Texas) Cy-Fair tight end Brock Wright, Norcross (Ga.) High defensive end Robert Beal and Lexington (Ky.) Lafayette offensive lineman Jedrick Wills are all nationally coveted prospects as rising juniors."