Rivals is releasing this week its final ratings and rankings for prospects in the 2024 class.

Today is the five-star countdown, which included Notre Dame linebacker signee Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa as the No. 19 overall prospect in the class. He moved up three spots from his previous ranking in December.

His overall ranking is the highest for a Notre Dame signee since the 2013 class when linebacker Jaylon Smith (No. 3) and running back Greg Bryant (No. 19) inked with the Irish.

@Adam Gorney's take on KVA: "For a long time, the people at powerhouse Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco said Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa could end up as the best defensive player in program history and the Notre Dame signee has proven it time and again.

"He’s mature and serious about what he wants to accomplish on and off the field. Viliamu-Asa goes out and delivers every single time. Whether he’s blitzing, dropping in coverage or running sideline-to-sideline, the five-star linebacker can do it all. He could be special in South Bend."

Rivals is updating its five-star countdown at the link below:

Notre Dame's coaching staff will prioritize visiting a handful of recruits who were just on campus for junior day.

I just got off the phone with linebacker Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng, the highest-ranked 2025 recruit to visit Notre Dame this weekend for junior day.

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Owusu-Boateng is the half-brother of former Notre Dame All-America linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, so naturally the two connected during his visit.

Owusu-Boateng FaceTimed Owusu-Koramoah during his photoshoot.

"During my photoshoot, I actually FaceTimed him to show him I was wearing his No. 6 jersey and stuff like that," Owusu-Boateng said. "He was talking about how there’s no negatives in the program. You’re playing football at a national level, you’re playing against the best, plus you’re getting a great education at the same time. Dudes get drafted first rounds. Overall, they just get drafted and fulfill their long-lived dreams to pursue the NFL.”

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden has pitched Owusu-Boateng on the idea of playing the same rover linebacker position that his brother did.

The highlight of the visit for Owusu-Boateng was his one-on-one conversation with head coach Marcus Freeman.

“Him telling me why Notre Dame stands out, why he sees it as the best fit for me," Owusu-Boateng said of Freeman's message. "Another part I liked about it was how he wasn’t sugarcoating anything. Sometimes you go to programs and they’re going to sugarcoat stuff. He was saying things straight up and straightforward to me.”

Owusu-Boateng said he spent time getting to know many of the Notre Dame commits also on campus, but quarterback Deuce Knight stood out to him.

"Him just saying that we can build something strong and compete for a national title," Owusu-Boateng said.

Owusu-Boateng, who made the trip with his aunt, said he doesn't have any other visits lined up yet and isn't in a hurry to make a decision. He'll likely end up making his decision during the early signing period in December before a January enrollment.

Syracuse re-enters the Top 25 at No. 22 on Monday, just in time for its road test at No. 15 Notre Dame on Thursday night. Irish visit No. 8 UConn on Saturday night.

More on the No. 1 linebacker and others who visited this weekend:

Yes, it's Tuesday this week and it's a long story why. Was going to be Tuesday for the next three weeks, but I think we're going to move it back to Wednesday next week since there won't be a conflict on Wednesdays after all. With that said, please include your name and hometown along with your question(s). You can submit questions early ... and here's a shortcut to where to do that: https://live.jotcast.com/chat/notre-dame-football-live-chat-jan-23-2024-17476.html

@Eric Hansen and I will go live Monday on YouTube at 7 p.m. EST for the next weekly edition of "Football Never Sleeps."

We'll discuss Notre Dame's junior day recruiting event from this past weekend, who the Irish are trending with in the 2025 class and what they hope to learn at Notre Dame football interviews in February while answering questions from viewers.

Football Never Sleeps is sponsored by Legacy Heating & Air.

We hope you join us live with questions or submit some ahead of time. Hit the bell to set a reminder to get notified when we go live.

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If you'd like to submit questions, make sure you click through so you're watching on YouTube's site or in the YouTube app if you're on mobile. You can do so by clicking the headline at the top of the embedded video above. So where it says "Football Never Sleeps: ..." Or there should be spot that says "Watch on YouTube" in the bottom left.

Then to submit questions, there's a chat box to the right of the video on desktop or below the video on mobile.

Click here to subscribe to Inside ND Sports on YouTube.

Maybe he can beat Michigan next year? If Harbaugh is there, I'd still say doubtful.

I hope ND's collective is ready to play ball because Ohio State is cleaning house this offseason.

Sucks for Alabama

@Adam Gorney's recruiting rumor mill includes notes on four of Notre Dame's junior day visitors this past weekend: OT Jack Lange, LB Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng, OT Owen Strebig and WR Shaun Terry.


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Notre Dame's coaching staff will keep its focus in the Midwest on Friday with recruiting visits in Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana. Important stops with targets, commits and top programs around Chicago and Indianapolis.

The five-coach travel party is hitting Las Vegas and Phoenix today. Three coaches are expected in the DMV. The others are hitting Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Tampa areas.

@Charleston Bowles and I are making calls to recruits and checking in with sources today.

Make sure you check out the threads/stories we have on the following (will update this as more come in):

LB target Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng
OL target Jack Lange
OL target Owen Strebig
2026 QB target Brady Smigiel
RB commit Daniel Anderson

We also have social media posts collected here.

In addition to that, here’s some intel that we’ve gathered.

I still feel good about my Notre Dame FutureCast predictions for 2025 WR target Jerome Bettis Jr. and 2025 OL target Owen Strebig.

For Bettis, it feels like he’s already committed to Notre Dame because he’s around so much and has such good relationships with the coaching staff and commits. I don’t think he’s going to end his recruitment soon, but I still like where the Irish are positioned.

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For Strebig, the competition has certainly heated up with Miami, USC and Wisconsin pushing hard for him. But the Notre Dame visit came at a great time in that the Irish could counter the rejuvenated pitch from new Wisconsin OL coach AJ Blazek. Not only was Strebig on campus with the commits who have been pushing hard for him, the chance to be around other offensive line who the Irish are pursuing was important. ND OL coach Joe Rudolph continues to put in work there.

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https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/...ootball-playoff-will-work-teams-schedule-bids

First time Ive read this, sorry if already posted.

The first six playoff spots go to the top 6 ranked conference champions?!?! Ie Liberty would have supplanted Oklahoma this year in a theoretical. But worse next year with no Pac 12 and a diminished Big 12, we will have Big 10, SEC, ACC champs and 3 teams that may or not be in the top 12 ranked teams? So said differently, ND has to compete for a spot behind the reduced Big 12, the AAC and the Sun Belt champs (Mountain West or MAC)? So 2 losses and no championship game may not be enough, ugh.

Notre Dame and Ohio State were tied at 2 in both games of a Friday-Saturday series in Columbus, Ohio.

Ohio State won the Friday game by a 3-2 margin. Notre Dame won the Saturday game by a 5-2 margin.

FRIDAY

Ohio State jumped out to a 2-0 lead Friday with a first-period goal by Dalton Messina and a second-period goal by Stephen Halliday. The Buckeyes held a 25-17 advantage in shots through the first two periods despite failing to convert on any of their three power plays.

Then Notre Dame tied the game with a pair of third-period goals. Drew Bavaro got the Irish on the board with a goal just 1:05 into the third period. Danny Nelson tied the game with 10:27 remaining.

But the game didn't stay tied long. Scooter Brickey gave Ohio State its final lead 1:59 later with a power-play goal.

Notre Dame goaltender Ryan Bischel saved 34 shots. Ohio State's Logan Terness totaled 26 saves.

Box score: OSU 3, ND 2

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SATURDAY

Notre Dame jumped out to a 2-0 lead Saturday, but the Irish let it slip away before the first period even ended.

Grant Silianoff and Landon Slaggert scored the first two goals for the Irish less than 90 seconds apart. Slaggert's came 11:42 into the first period. Ohio State tied it up with goals by Max Montes and Stephen Halliday in the final three minutes of the period.

Notre Dame recovered with a pair of goals in the second period and never gave up the lead again. Patrick Moynihan scored the third goal at the 13:08 mark. Slaggert notched his second goal on the power play at 15:42.

Trevor Janicke added the fifth goal in the third period off an assist from Brennan Ali, who forced a turnover.

A little ugliness broke out at the end. Notre Dame's Drew Bavaro and Jayden Davis and Ohio State's Scooter Brickey and Riley Hughes were hit with majors for fighting.

Bischel saved 30 shots for ND. Kristoffer Eberly saved 38 for Ohio State (9-9-4, 1-9-2).

Box score: ND 5, OSU 2

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Notre Dame (11-11-2, 5-7-2) will continue Big Ten play on Friday and Saturday with home games against Penn State (10-9-3, 2-7-3).

Notre Dame women's basketball will complete its two-game road stretch today with a matchup against an unimpressive Wake Forest team at 2 p.m. EST.

The Demon Deacons (4-14) have yet to win an ACC game this season in six attempts. Wake Forest owns the lowest-scoring offense in the conference with 59.7 points per game. Junior guard Elise Williams is the only Wake Forest player averaging at least 10 points (10.7).

Notre Dame (13-4, 4-2) averages 85.0 points per game and just scored 86 in a 10-point road win at Virginia on Thursday night.

Tip: 2 p.m. EST
Watch: ACCNX
Listen: Notre Dame Radio Network

Notre Dame season stats:

Damn good watch.

49ers survive.

“Our identity is on defense, getting the ball out, rebounding and going,” said Notre Dame senior forward Maddy Westbeld. “We can’t get into our flow offensively unless we do that. That’s really something the coaches were emphasizing and also us on the floor.”

The June-arriving Irish wide receiver signee in the 2024 class garnered plenty of strong reviews from Rivals national analysts during the leadup to Friday Night's Polynesian Bowl high school all-star game in Honolulu. In the game itself on Friday night, Logan Saldate had one reception for 21 yards for the winning Makai team (28-17 victory over Team Mauka). Saldate's team rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit to win. I've included the box score, so you can look at the complete stats.

Nice 30 yard gain for the Detroit Lions

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Portal roundup:


Update:

Michael Carmody commits to UCLA.

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Notre Dame football hosted 2025 running back commit Daniel Anderson on a visit this weekend for its junior day. Anderson, a four-star recruit out of Bryant (Ark.) High, was last on campus for the Ohio State game, when he verbally committed to the Irish in pregame.

Per Rivals, Anderson is the No. 16 running back and No. 204 overall player in the 2025 recruiting class. He was one of 11 ND commits on campus this weekend and makes up a running back tandem in the 2025 class with four-star commit Justin Thurman.

I conducted a phone call with the 5-foot-11, 195-pound Anderson on Sunday to discuss his visit, relationship with the staff, thoughts on last season, recovery from injury and more. Anderson spoke highly of head coach Marcus Freeman and the bond between the commits.

On his return to campus:

"It was great to be back again, I really couldn't express that enough," Anderson told Inside ND Sports. "I really enjoyed getting to meet the coaching staff again ... just seeing all [of] their energy that they have for all the recruits and I'm really happy that I got to come back here."

On what's helped him stay committed:

"Anytime I talk to anyone, they really show how much they actually care about not just me as a player, but me as a person," Anderson said. "And when I do talk to them, they check up on my school life, how I'm doing it at home and everything like that. And they really express like how much relationships matter."

On how running backs coach Deland McCullough maximized the running back room this season:

"That's something I'd never seen before and I didn't really know how that was gonna be possible," Anderson said. "Then I watched the season play out and I saw those numbers for each player add up and I'm like, 'Wow, this man ... he's got his stuff down.'"

Anderson said he's fully recovered from an ankle sprain that limited him as a junior and is a full participant in Braynt's winter workouts.

Link to full story:




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Notre Dame football hosted 2025 offensive tackle target Owen Strebig on a visit this weekend for its junior day. Strebig, a four-star recruit out of Waukesha (Wisc.) Catholic Memorial, was last on campus in October for the USC game. He has visited the Irish six times in his recruitment dating back to last April.

Per Rivals, Strebig is the No. 6 offensive tackle and No. 66 overall player in the 2025 recruiting class. He has 25 total offers and is down to a top 11 that included Florida, Florida State, Illinois, Iowa, Miami (Fla.), Michigan, Missouri, UCF, Wisconsin and USC.

On Sunday, I had a conversation with the 6-foot-8, 295-pound Strebig to get the latest on his feelings toward the Irish, relationship with the staff, interaction with ND's commits and more.

On his junior day visit:

"I have gotten really close with the commits in the class so we are already building that bond," Strebig told Inside ND Sports. "[Head] Coach [Marcus] Freeman and [offensive line] coach [Joe] Rudolph's relationship with me is awesome. They also have a relationship with my family which is huge to me."

Strebig's relationship with Rudolph goes back to Rudolph's ties in Wisconsin, where he knows and has history with Strebig's personal trainers. Strebig said the Irish coaching staff also made a strong selling point for possibilities outside of football.

"They mentioned how strong a Notre Dame degree is. It will take care of you for the rest of your life. Notre Dame can not only make you a first-round pick but also set you up for the rest of your life."

On growing chemistry with ND's commits:

"Me, Deuce [Knight], CJ [May], and [Justin] Thurm are close. Plus me and James [Flanigan] and pretty close. It's good to be around the people you would be around."

Strebig visited Wisconsin last weekend and also plans to check out Miami (Fla.) and USC this spring and summer. He said ND will receive another visit this spring and potentially an official visit after that.

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Notre Dame has offered 2025 wide receiver Shaun Terry. He is on campus currently for junior day.

Per Rivals, the 5-foot-11, 180-pound wide receiver is a three-star recruit. He is not ranked nationally or at his position. Terry attends Ironton (Ohio) High.

Terry reports 21 total offers including Arkansas, Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, USC, Virginia Tech, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

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Notre Dame football hosted 2025 offensive tackle target Jack Lange on a visit this weekend for its junior day. Lange, a four-star recruit out of Eureka (Mo.) High, was last on campus in October for the Pittsburgh game.

Per Rivals, Lange is the No. 19 offensive tackle and No. 164 overall player in the 2025 recruiting class. He has 19 total offers including Arkansas, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Penn State, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

I spoke with the 6-foot-8--8, 275-pound Lange on Sunday to discuss his trip, impressions of the staff, overall takeaways and more.

"I definitely saw the culture of Notre Dame way more and I think it’s a very special place," Lange told Inside ND Sports. "I really liked the conversations I had with the coaches and I think that they all do a really great job. I think they want me there."

According to Lange, offensive line coach Joe Rudolph has made him a priority and sold him on playing either left or right tackle at the college level.

Lange said it was nice catching up with former middle school teammate and Notre Dame 2025 RB commit Justin Thurman, Lange was one of three offensive linemen present — alongside 2025 OT targets Owen Strebig and Matty Augustine — and said the vibes were positive throughout the day.

"I loved the recruiting staff’s energy," Lange said. "It was great to see the other recruits and connect with them ... it was good to put [it all] into perspective. I loved playing dodgeball with them."

Lange said he has firm interest in the Irish and wants to return for an official visit later this year.

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