Notre Dame Football: Kyle Hamilton is Irish’s First 5-Star From 2019 Class

247 Sports has awarded five star status to Kyle Hamilton, a 6-foot-3 safety prospect who signed with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Dec. 19.

Hamilton moved up in the site’s rankings from No. 22 to No. 15 in the re-ranking announced Tuesday afternoon.

“Man, watch this kid’s senior tape,” gushed Barton Simmons, 247 Sports’ director of recruiting. “This may be my favorite senior tape in this class. Kam Chancellor is a comp(arison) as a long term guy because I think the way his [Kyle’s] body is developing — he’s already 6-foot-3, 190 pounds; he’s got 34 inch arms, huge wingspan — he is becoming a more physical specimen by the day. And his senior tape relative to his junior tape...huge jump forward. So athletic. Georgia wanted him out of the state of Georgia. Notre Dame ended up landing him and I think he is going to be a big time prospect in that defense.”

Pretty good praise for a 17-year-old still in high school!

Hamilton held 36 scholarship offers. Besides the Georgia Bulldogs and the Irish, Hamilton received notice from the Clemson Tigers, Auburn Tigers, Ohio State Buckeyes and Michigan Wolverines, to name a few. The Marist School product verbally committed to the Irish last April 24.

Last week, Hamilton jumped up in the 247 Sports Composite — which synthesizes rankings from 247 Sports, ESPN and Rivals — from No. 103 to No. 65 in the Class of 2019.

In the composite, Hamilton is considered the fourth-best safety in the Class and the 10th best player in Georgia.

Hamilton was ranked No. 992 in the Composite when he signed with the Irish, but jumped up to No. 672 four days after his verbal commitment. 247 Sports, which is heralding him now, had him at No. 793 at the time of his commitment.

Hamilton’s biggest jump was this summer, when he jumped 216 spots in the 247 Sports rankings — and 167 sports in the Composite — after a stellar showing in The Opening Finals.

247 Sports will release its full, final list of Top 247 players in the Class of 2019 on Wednesday. The Irish currently have nine players in the recruiting site’s top group: Hamilton, OT Quinn Carroll, OT Zeke Correll, DT Jacob Lacey, OT Andrew Kristofic, CB Isaiah Rutherford, WDE NaNa Osafo-Mensah, RB Kyren Williams and LB J.D. Bertrand.

Carroll, Correll, Lacey, Kristofic, Osafo-Mensah and Williams are already on campus as early enrollees.