It's that time of year. Irish Invasion is back. And Notre Dame is once again hosting a ton of talented prospects for this huge event. Since so many recruits will be on campus this weekend, we will have two separate visitor previews for you -- one offense, one defense. Keep in mind, this list is liable to change before the event starts this weekend.
Let's get to it.
Commits
Tight end Cole Kmet and quarterback Avery Davis will be in South Bend to work out and try on their recruiting caps. Kmet is about as solid of a commit as you can get. Davis recently participated in the Elite 11 Finals. While he did not earn an invite to the Opening for the final competition, he still proved that he is an impressive prospect.
Brian Kelly has the next baller QB for Notre Dame with Avery Davis (@realaverydavis) https://t.co/t4hBC2LX30
— B/R The Future (@BR_TheFuture) June 14, 2016
2017 Recruits
Foster Sarell is making his first visit to campus and the staff will look to make a move on the 5-star offensive tackle. He'll be on campus for a few days.
Andrew Thomas is making another trip up to South Bend from Georgia. Normally you'd think that a kid who makes numerous 700-mile trips on his own dime to visit South Bend would have Notre Dame as his leader, but the Irish currently trail the home-state Georgia Bulldogs for this elite tackle.
Notre Dame appears to be in the driver's seat for 3-star wide receiver Michael Young. The Louisiana native is hoping to take a few more visits before making a decision sometime in July. Young would be a good fit in the slot.
NOLA ✈️ South Bend tomorrow! #IRISHEL17E
— Michael Young (@_LikeMike10_) June 16, 2016
Unranked Illinois QB Tommy Herion will be in attendance throwing the ball around and trying to boost his stock. He holds no offers yet, but if he performs well at Irish Invasion, word could spread and he could see his first offer come from a smaller school.
Osiris St. Brown will be in attendance with his younger brother (we'll talk about him later). It will be really good to get OSB on campus again. Stanford is making this a battle, and while he's probably leaning towards the Irish at this point, he will be tougher to land than we originally thought.
Top 200 running back Colin Wilson is making his first trip up from Florida. A lot of teams seem to be sleeping on him since he tore his ACL near the end of his sophomore season. Notre Dame looks to be in his top group along with Louisville, North Carolina, and South Carolina. He mentions Autry Denson as a key reason for his interest in the Irish. Every Florida kid seems to be raving about Denson.
Three-star Florida wide receiver Jordan Pouncey has high interest in the Irish, but it remains to be seen whether increased interest from the SEC schools will pose a problem here. He was recently offered by Florida, and they appear to be the biggest competition.
After standout camp performance, #Florida offers legacy prospect Pouncey https://t.co/yjnztuRRtT via @TheNikkoTan pic.twitter.com/SVcaSVxc34
— Blake Alderman (@MistaAlderman) June 10, 2016
Notre Dame recently made the Top7 for 4-star athlete CJ Holmes. CJ could be a fit at either wide receiver, safety, or running back. Penn State and Alabama appear to be the biggest threat to land him, but Notre Dame has a legitimate shot here.
Atlanta 3-star running back Deon Jackson will be on campus working towards an offer. He was recently the top offensive performer at the Sound Mind Sound Body camp in Atlanta. The general consensus appears to be that he's due for a ratings bump from his modest .8496 composite score. If offered, Notre Dame would be a player in his recruitment.
Three-star APB Rajan Cunningham is making the trip up from Texas in search of an offer from the Irish. At 5'7" and about 175 pounds, I think his size would get in the way of him getting an offer. He'd likely a better fit in the slot than at running back for Notre Dame.
Three-star Indiana receiver Mac Hippenhammer is making another visit up from Fort Wayne. He's probably unlikely to earn an offer from Notre Dame, but I'm sure Davis and Herion are going to enjoy having all these quality receivers to throw to.
2018 Recruits
Markese Stepp, the top target for Notre Dame at running back, is making another visit up from Indianapolis. Michigan could end up posing a threat in his recruitment, but all signs continue to point towards the Irish for this one.
Georgia 4-star offensive guard Dylan Wonnum will be in attendance hoping to earn an offer. He already holds offers from Florida, LSU, and Ohio State among others.
I'm actually really surprised that Micah Jones has yet to receive his Notre Dame offer. At 6'4" and 200 pounds, he's got the size, he's currently rated in the top 150 for his class, and he's from just a few hours away in Illinois. Maybe the talented wide receiver will earn an offer this weekend after working out?
One of the midwest top 2018 prospects is Micah Jones 6'5" 196 WR from Warren Township. Great size, leaping ability pic.twitter.com/fTx4hrIty5
— Tom Lemming (@LemmingReport) June 6, 2016
Arkansas 4-star QB Connor Noland has been scheduled to visit for Irish Invasion for a while now. Even though Notre Dame already has their QB for the class of 2018 (Phil Jurkovec), I've yet to hear that Connor won't be in attendance, so I'm leaving him up on the list.
Unranked Indiana receiver Dashon Bussell, a product of Bishop Luers High School in Fort Wayne, will be in town working out and hoping to impress the staff. He currently only holds offers from a few MAC schools, but that will likely change in the future.
Amon-Ra St. Brown, the youngest brother of the St. Brown Trio, just recently received an offer from USC. The Trojans and Alabama might pose some stiff competition, but Notre Dame definitely leads for him right now.
Jamaree Salyer, the #1 ranked offensive guard in his class, has high interest in Notre Dame. Whether that will progress into something that will be enough to pull him away from the in-state Georgia Bulldogs or Clemson remains to be seen.
2019 Recruits
With Avery Davis and Phil Jurkovec in the fold, Notre Dame can go all in on the recruitment of JT Daniels at quarterback. JT has already been offered, visited Notre Dame before, and he raved about that experience. He could very well end up the top-ranked quarterback in his class, and he could very well end up signing with Notre Dame in the kind of distant future.
Bru McCoy has also been very complimentary of Notre Dame. It looks like the Irish offer he received a couple of months ago has made a big impression on him. Notre Dame should be in it for the talented WR/DB until the end.
Trevor Keegan already holds a Power Five offer from nearby Northwestern. The Illinois offensive lineman is sure to reel in a few more offers in the near future.
Another Illinois offensive lineman, William Putnam, also already holds a Power Five offer -- this one from Illinois. He's garnering interest from a few other Big Ten schools as well.
That's all we've got for you today. Check back in tomorrow for our preview of visitors from the defensive side of the ball.