2026 Recruit Kendre Harrison

[Drinking The Green Koolaid]

For you guys who follow recruiting closely, what are the chances ND lands Kendre Harrison? He is from Reidsville NC and is being recruited for the TE/DE positions. He is 6'7" and 235 lb. All the big schools are after him. 247Sports ranks him No. 2 overall and currently the ESPN top 150 has him ranked at No. 3 overall. Aside from being a highly sought after football recruit, he is apparently a very talented basketball player as well, having shattered a number of backboards with some power dunks. In bball he is ranked at No. 31 overall and No. 4 PF. There is an article in The Athletic on him, describing him as possbly being the next Julius Peppers. That is pretty high praise. He has said he wants to play football and bball for at least one year to see how things shake out. He sounds like he could start for ND's bball team right now! He describes ND as his "dream school," but we have heard that from other recruits that ended up going elsewhere. 2026 is a long ways off, but any predictions from you guys who follow recruiting?

 

[chaseball]

Any 5-star national-title-quality-prospect is going to know his value and demand the best terms for himself, shop around, take all 5 visits, secure a big NIL bonus, wait until the end of the cycle to make a decision, etc. (at least in most cases)

ND doesn't capitulate to prospects though (a philosophy/culture at ND that desperately needs to change) so we probably have zero chance.

 

[Drinking The Green Koolaid]

Any 5-star national-title-quality-prospect is going to know his value and demand the best terms for himself, shop around, take all 5 visits, secure a big NIL bonus, wait until the end of the cycle to make a decision, etc. (at least in most cases)

ND doesn't capitulate to prospects though (a philosophy/culture at ND that desperately needs to change) so we probably have zero chance.

From your comment do you suggest it is a sound recruiting strategy for ND to "capitulate" to a prospect's NIL demands? Sorry, but that seems like a bad idea to me. How well did that work for UF with Jaden Rashada? Instead of casting a broad net over all top recruits, I think Freeman has tried to identify the top recruits we have a realistic chance of landing, and invested his time and energy going after them. From what I have read we landed 4 of the top 20 recruits we identified in this most recent class. That is a pretty good batting average. And it sounds like 5* Derek Meadows may be coming to ND when all is said and done.

Where I think ND has been pretty savvy with its NIL money is using NIL deals to retain players who might have gone to the NFL (e.g., Xavier Watts, Howard Cross III and Riley Mills) and filling positional problems with guys coming in through the portal, such as Sam Hartman and Riley Leonard at QB, and Kris Mitchell and Beaux Collins at WR. Everyone wants to look at NIL only in terms of landing the next shiny new recruit, but a school's success with NIL really needs to be measured from how well it manages a multi-pronged approach. Maybe ND hasn't been as strong as we might have liked with new recruits, but it has done a pretty solid job IMO with using NIL to retain players who might have left school and gone to the NFL and in landing some help in the portal. And how foolish do you think UF looks after offering an NIL deal of $13.85mm to Jaden Rashada? If it is that kind of insane "philosophy/culture" you are advocating for ND to embrace, count me out.

It will be a brave new world out there now with athletes now being entitled to share football revenue with their schools, but I am confident ND will adapt and survive.

BTW, recruits are no longer limited to 5 OVs. They may now take an unlimited number of OVs, but only 1 OV per school.

 

[Golson5]

For you guys who follow recruiting closely, what are the chances ND lands Kendre Harrison? He is from Reidsville NC and is being recruited for the TE/DE positions. He is 6'7" and 235 lb. All the big schools are after him. 247Sports ranks him No. 2 overall and currently the ESPN top 150 has him ranked at No. 3 overall. Aside from being a highly sought after football recruit, he is apparently a very talented basketball player as well, having shattered a number of backboards with some power dunks. In bball he is ranked at No. 31 overall and No. 4 PF. There is an article in The Athletic on him, describing him as possbly being the next Julius Peppers. That is pretty high praise. He has said he wants to play football and bball for at least one year to see how things shake out. He sounds like he could start for ND's bball team right now! He describes ND as his "dream school," but we have heard that from other recruits that ended up going elsewhere. 2026 is a long ways off, but any predictions from you guys who follow recruiting?

I would say pretty low chances

 

[chaseball]

NIL deals to low upside/warm body tweeners in the transfer portal is a waste of money. Spending money to keep talent on the roster for 1 more year is also a waste of money when your program isn't presently good enough to compete with tier 1 competition. We should be taking major risks on prospective talent on the recruiting trail, going after major prospects with major upside who can develop into big time stars that have multiple years of eligibility.

I dont know much about the UF situation, but I applaud their admins for investing the kind of resources to get the kind of talent to position them for success at the highest level.

In any business it takes great risks for great rewards. Sometimes you are going to make a risk that doesn't pay off but thats just the cost of doing business. And when you hit BIG it's worth every penny.

 

[Drinking The Green Koolaid]

NIL deals to low upside/warm body tweeners in the transfer portal is a waste of money. Spending money to keep talent on the roster for 1 more year is also a waste of money when your program isn't presently good enough to compete with tier 1 competition. We should be taking major risks on prospective talent on the recruiting trail, going after major prospects with major upside who can develop into big time stars that have multiple years of eligibility.

I dont know much about the UF situation, but I applaud their admins for investing the kind of resources to get the kind of talent to position them for success at the highest level.

In any business it takes great risks for great rewards. Sometimes you are going to make a risk that doesn't pay off but thats just the cost of doing business. And when you hit BIG it's worth every penny.

You think keeping guys like Xavier Watts, Howard Cross III and Riley Mills on the roster is a "waste" of NIL money? Wow, that is a silly position. You are too fixated on the star system of recruiting. It isn't a "waste" to keep a guy with known and proven ability over a player who has the mere potential to become a good player, even if the recruit may be there longer. Very few make any true impact as freshman, and if they are really good they are gone for the NFL after 3 years. So you are only getting 2 years, really, out of that player.

It scares me that you would "applaud" UF for the Jaden Rashada fiasco. UF came out with egg all over its face on that one. And it is looking like Napier may not have a job after this season.

ND will never get truckloads of 5* guys because the truth is that most of them will never fit in at ND, either academically or culturally. So you pick your spots. We landed commits in this class from 3 DBs who are in the top 100. That is as good as anyone. Are you complaining about that? You need to quit your constant hand wringing over the state of ND's recruiting.

 

[sjb75]

NIL deals to low upside/warm body tweeners in the transfer portal is a waste of money. Spending money to keep talent on the roster for 1 more year is also a waste of money when your program isn't presently good enough to compete with tier 1 competition. We should be taking major risks on prospective talent on the recruiting trail, going after major prospects with major upside who can develop into big time stars that have multiple years of eligibility.

I dont know much about the UF situation, but I applaud their admins for investing the kind of resources to get the kind of talent to position them for success at the highest level.

In any business it takes great risks for great rewards. Sometimes you are going to make a risk that doesn't pay off but thats just the cost of doing business. And when you hit BIG it's worth every penny.

You act as if all or even most of the 5 Star players or even high 4-Star players want what Notre Dame demands. And that is to attend class and strive academically.

Many of these elite kids who go to the SEC or Ohio St. or Oregon, all schools swimming in NIL $$$$$$$$$, aren't remotely interested in school. They major in the NFL.

So Marcus Freeman shops for the best kids kids that also fit for what Notre Dame demands.

 

[Drinking The Green Koolaid]

You act as if all or even most of the 5 Star players or even high 4-Star players want what Notre Dame demands. And that is to attend class and strive academically.

Many of these elite kids who go to the SEC or Ohio St. or Oregon, all schools swimming in NIL $$$$$$$$$, aren't remotely interested in school. They major in the NFL.

So Marcus Freeman shops for the best kids kids that also fit for what Notre Dame demands.

As Cardale Jones famously tweeted a few years back:

“Why should we have to go to class if we came here to play FOOTBALL, we ain't come to play SCHOOL, classes are POINTLESS”

 

[JimMc]

Losing Watts, Cross and Mills over one year of NIL would have been criminally stupid. It’s year 3 for MF and we need to win and get to the CFP if we hope to attract top recruits.

We have lots of questions on Offense, solidifying a top 5 type Defense is a huge step toward a 10+ win season.

 

[chaseball]

Losing Watts, Cross and Mills over one year of NIL would have been criminally stupid. It’s year 3 for MF and we need to win and get to the CFP if we hope to attract top recruits.

We have lots of questions on Offense, solidifying a top 5 type Defense is a huge step toward a 10+ win season.

We don't have a top 5 defense we have a 10th ish ranked defense and a 10th ish ranked offense according to SP+ (to match our 10th ish ranked 85-man roster and our 10th ish ranked recruiting classes)

10th doesn't sound terrible but this isn't the NFL where every team is very closely equal. This is college football where the top five or so teams in the country are completely stacked with all of the top talent in the country and whoever is not in that tier 1 group is basically playing in a comparative minor league.

This means that when we get to the playoffs and we face the top teams in the SEC and Big 10 we are going to be completely outclassed yet again

And apparently Notre Dame fans just love it.

 

[chaseball]

You think keeping guys like Xavier Watts, Howard Cross III and Riley Mills on the roster is a "waste" of NIL money? Wow, that is a silly position. You are too fixated on the star system of recruiting. It isn't a "waste" to keep a guy with known and proven ability over a player who has the mere potential to become a good player, even if the recruit may be there longer. Very few make any true impact as freshman, and if they are really good they are gone for the NFL after 3 years. So you are only getting 2 years, really, out of that player.

It scares me that you would "applaud" UF for the Jaden Rashada fiasco. UF came out with egg all over its face on that one. And it is looking like Napier may not have a job after this season.

ND will never get truckloads of 5* guys because the truth is that most of them will never fit in at ND, either academically or culturally. So you pick your spots. We landed commits in this class from 3 DBs who are in the top 100. That is as good as anyone. Are you complaining about that? You need to quit your constant hand wringing over the state of ND's recruiting.

When Notre Dame is using its nil budget to bring back 5th Year guys instead of top flight prospects on the recruiting trail then yes it is a problem in my opinion.

You bring back fifth year guys with nil dollars when you have a tier one roster ready to win a national title not when you are a b-team who is completely outclassed by the best teams in the country

Also i don't really buy all the "top nfl prospect" hype about Xavier Watts Howard Cross etc if those guys were legitimate top NFL prospects they would be gone cashing in on their talent at the NFL, but I look at those guys like I would a good transfer portal player maybe a guy who's going to give you some really high quality reps but probably already at his ceiling only under 1 year of control and taking away development from guys who could potentially be in the program for 3 to 5 years and who might even offer more upside in their final seasons.

 

[sjb75]

Losing Watts, Cross and Mills over one year of NIL would have been criminally stupid. It’s year 3 for MF and we need to win and get to the CFP if we hope to attract top recruits.

We have lots of questions on Offense, solidifying a top 5 type Defense is a huge step toward a 10+ win season.

Agree. You bring back all three senior defensive starters, not even a question for Coach Freeman.

 

[jerbach]

We don't have a top 5 defense we have a 10th ish ranked defense and a 10th ish ranked offense according to SP+ (to match our 10th ish ranked 85-man roster and our 10th ish ranked recruiting classes)

10th doesn't sound terrible but this isn't the NFL where every team is very closely equal. This is college football where the top five or so teams in the country are completely stacked with all of the top talent in the country and whoever is not in that tier 1 group is basically playing in a comparative minor league.

This means that when we get to the playoffs and we face the top teams in the SEC and Big 10 we are going to be completely outclassed yet again

And apparently Notre Dame fans just love it.

Have you made a lot of money betting against ND and the spread. With your ability to know the future you could be rich.

 

[Granite45]

When Notre Dame is using its nil budget to bring back 5th Year guys instead of top flight prospects on the recruiting trail then yes it is a problem in my opinion.

You bring back fifth year guys with nil dollars when you have a tier one roster ready to win a national title not when you are a b-team who is completely outclassed by the best teams in the country

Do you cinsider such treatment of student-athletes to be ethical?

I would not/

 

[tbonesays]

When Notre Dame is using its nil budget to bring back 5th Year guys instead of top flight prospects on the recruiting trail then yes it is a problem in my opinion.

You bring back fifth year guys with nil dollars when you have a tier one roster ready to win a national title not when you are a b-team who is completely outclassed by the best teams in the country

Also i don't really buy all the "top nfl prospect" hype about Xavier Watts Howard Cross etc if those guys were legitimate top NFL prospects they would be gone cashing in on their talent at the NFL, but I look at those guys like I would a good transfer portal player maybe a guy who's going to give you some really high quality reps but probably already at his ceiling only under 1 year of control and taking away development from guys who could potentially be in the program for 3 to 5 years and who might even offer more upside in their final seasons.

other way around. With unlimited transfers and one and dones all over the field, returning experience is a premium.

 

[NDSMC78]

We don't have a top 5 defense we have a 10th ish ranked defense and a 10th ish ranked offense according to SP+ (to match our 10th ish ranked 85-man roster and our 10th ish ranked recruiting classes)

10th doesn't sound terrible but this isn't the NFL where every team is very closely equal. This is college football where the top five or so teams in the country are completely stacked with all of the top talent in the country and whoever is not in that tier 1 group is basically playing in a comparative minor league.

This means that when we get to the playoffs and we face the top teams in the SEC and Big 10 we are going to be completely outclassed yet again

And apparently Notre Dame fans just love it.

Having a top 10 offense and top 10 defense bodes well for this team. There is a hell of a lot of talent on ND, but rather than admit it, you would rather look at your navel and talk about irrelevant nonsense. This is, of course, par for you. I say once again that you know less about football than anyone else on this board.

 

[sjb75]

Having a top 10 offense and top 10 defense bodes well for this team. There is a hell of a lot of talent on ND, but rather than admit it, you would rather look at your navel and talk about irrelevant nonsense. This is, of course, par for you. I say once again that you know less about football than anyone else on this board.

The troll wins.

 

[theskibro]

For you guys who follow recruiting closely, what are the chances ND lands Kendre Harrison? He is from Reidsville NC and is being recruited for the TE/DE positions. He is 6'7" and 235 lb. All the big schools are after him. 247Sports ranks him No. 2 overall and currently the ESPN top 150 has him ranked at No. 3 overall. Aside from being a highly sought after football recruit, he is apparently a very talented basketball player as well, having shattered a number of backboards with some power dunks. In bball he is ranked at No. 31 overall and No. 4 PF. There is an article in The Athletic on him, describing him as possbly being the next Julius Peppers. That is pretty high praise. He has said he wants to play football and bball for at least one year to see how things shake out. He sounds like he could start for ND's bball team right now! He describes ND as his "dream school," but we have heard that from other recruits that ended up going elsewhere. 2026 is a long ways off, but any predictions from you guys who follow recruiting?

We are strong for JC Anderson. Harrison could surprise but Anderson could pop by September