Several things have happened since we last discussed the number of scholarships that Brian Kelly still has to work with in this recruiting cycle so an update is in order.
Running Back Kei'vare Russell committed.
Safety Elijah Shumate committed.
Running Back Amir Carlisle announced his transfer to Notre Dame from USC.
Cornerback Ronald Darby decommitted and reopened his recruitment.
Offensive Tackle Taylor Decker decommitted and is now committed to Ohio State.
Updated numbers after the jump.
You are all familiar with our eligibility chart at this point so I won't waste any time explaining it. The link is below. If you have any questions just leave them in the comments. *I will change the file name to 2012 when we update it for the next class after signing day!
2011 ND Roster Breakdown (16 Jan)
25 Freshmen (24 currently + Carlisle = 25)
19 Sophomores
15 Juniors
13 Seniors that are eligible to apply for a 5th year this spring
17 Current Commitments (Includes Chris Badger who is returning in Summer 12')
89 TOTAL
That puts us 4 over the cap of 85 scholarships.
So of the current 13 current seniors that are eligible to apply for a 5th year 4 are already gone.
The consensus remains that Kapron Lewis-Moore, Braxton Cave and Jamoris Slaughter are locks to return next fall.
That means we can take a maximum of 6 more recruits in this cycle. Each of those potential signees will be replacing a current senior with a 5th year option.
The potential 5th year candidates are divided into three groups below.
Locks to come back
1. C Braxton Cave
2. DE Kapron Lewis-Moore
3. S Jamoris Slaughter
Pending additional commitments
4. C Mike Golic Jr.
5. NT Sean Cwynar
6. OG Lane Clelland
7. WR John Goodman
8. DE Hafis Williams
9. FS Dan McCarthy
Most Likely Already Gone
10. NT Brandon Newman
11. ILB Anthony McDonald
12. ILB David Posluszny
13. WR Deion Walker
Decker flipping to tOSU helps the cause of Golic Jr. and Clelland to potentially return for added depth along the OL.
With rumors flying all over the place today about Gunner Kiel and the Armstead brothers the ND interwebs almost caught on fire. Strap it on, this is going to be a wild ride to the finish.
How do you think this is going to shake out?
*As a side note we are going to launch a permanent sidebar recruiting widget in the next few days. That widget will take you to a master post that has links to all of our most up to date recruiting information. That will include these numbers posts, our roster breakdowns, depth charts, commitment profiles etc. Stay tuned.