Notre Dame Football Recruiting: 5-Star DL Justin Scott commits to Ohio State over Irish

On Sunday evening, Notre Dame’s top target, 5-Star defensive lineman Justin Scott, gave his public commitment to the Ohio State Buckeyes. Scott is the #3 defensive lineman in the nation and is from Chicago, Illinois.

Yes, it sucks on so many levels.

Here’s how things went over the last few months...

There were serious rumblings that Scott wanted to commit to Notre Dame in February, but the Irish told Scott he would be unable to take any official visits to other schools while being a commitment for the Irish. The “other program” at the time was the Georgia Bulldogs, and many thought after visiting, Scott would have the Dawgs as the top spot.

Then the Miami Hurricanes come into the picture and push hard for the big man from the windy city. Just as this started to look like a Notre Dame vs Georgia vs Miami battle — the Michigan Wolverines picked up the pace until it was finally the Buckeyes (that was a very short and basic synopsis).

Notre Dame got flat out beat for a kid in their own backyard (if we can still call Chicago Notre Dame’s backyard). While those that don’t follow recruiting that closely this may seem like a head-scratcher, the fact that Scott refused to schedule an official visit with Notre Dame during the spring or summer because he “already knows Notre Dame,” said volumes to those of us that do follow recruiting closely. While he did announce his commitment today, this was likely over for the Irish months ago.