Irish showcased in Lone Star State
When Notre Dame plays Washington State on Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio, it will be a showcase in recruiting for both teams.
For the Fighting Irish, who actively recruit in Texas, the game is technically a home game, although special rules apply for prospects who visit. Notre Dame can provide free tickets for the prospects to watch the game, but the Irish coaching staff can't communicate with prospects who attend.
"We tried to appeal to the NCAA to get it like a true home game," Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said. "We can have all of the recruits from the state of Texas there, and we do have a bunch of them -- particularly for the Class of 2011 -- but in this case, it's not like a true home game."
One of those prospects from the Class of 2011 is local star Aaron Green (San Antonio/Madison). Many feel the ESPNU 150 Watch List member will be one of the top running backs in the country next season.
"I think it's really just a great opportunity to get out and watch Notre Dame play," Green said. "It's big for me to go and see them play in my hometown."
Green holds dozens of scholarship offers and said he has already topped the 1,000-yard mark rushing this season.
The Cougars also have recruited in the Lone Star state over the years, but under second-year coach Paul Wulff and recruiting coordinator Rich Rasmussen, the focus has changed somewhat.
"We weren't beating Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and schools like that for prospects in Texas," Rasmussen said. "It can be awfully difficult to do that, but that's what you have to do to get to where we want to go. So we pulled back from Texas. That doesn't change the fact that we ID kids from other areas, though, because we do."
Rasmussen said Washington State's primary focus is on players who reside within the Pac-10 media market, which is the entire West Coast (including states like Arizona, Nevada, Utah, etc.) and the Pacific Islands.
Still, he feels playing games like this helps improve the Cougars' visibility on a national level.
"Every year we are playing one of these types of games," he said. "Whether it is Auburn or Wisconsin or Michigan or Notre Dame, we sell the fact that you get one opportunity a year to go out and play against an out-of-area opponent. We show that we play a national schedule here at Washington State."
Leaderboard
Here is a quick rundown, including the two best bets and a dark horse, for possible landing spots of the uncommitted prospects in the overall top 10.
No. 1 overall, No. 1 DE Jackson Jeffcoat (Plano, Texas/Plano West) -- USC or Texas (dark horse is Oklahoma)
No. 2 overall, No. 1 OLB Jordan Hicks (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) -- Texas or Florida (dark horse is Ohio State)
No. 3 overall, No. 2 DE Ronald Powell (Moreno Valley, Calif./Rencho Verde) -- USC or Florida (no dark horse)
No. 4 overall, No. 1 OT Seantrel Henderson (Saint Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham) -- Ohio State or Minnesota (dark horse is Notre Dame)
No. 5 overall, No. 1 ILB Jeff Luc (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Treasure Coast) -- Florida or Miami (dark horse is Florida State)
No. 6 overall, No. 1 RB Michael Dyer (Little Rock, Ark./Little Rock Christian) -- Auburn or Arkansas (heavy lean to Auburn)
No. 8 overall, No. 1 WR Darius White (Fort Worth, Texas/Dunbar Senior) -- Oklahoma or Oklahoma State (no dark horse)
No. 10 overall, No. 2 RB Marcus Lattimore (Duncan, S.C./Byrnes) -- South Carolina or Auburn (dark horse is Oregon)
Hot Sell: Notre Dame
Yet again, the hot sell is Notre Dame. The Irish continued to be red hot on the recruiting trail this week with the commitment of four-star running back Giovanni Bernard (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Saint Thomas Aquinas) and are in the final two for ESPNU 150 athlete Anthony Barr (Torrance, Calif./Loyola).Coast-to-Coast Notes
Cadogan enjoys Michigan State
Three-star defensive end Sherard Cadogan (Cherry Hill, N.J./Camden Catholic) made an official visit to Michigan State this past weekend and came away impressed with the Spartans.
The 6-foot-3, 220-pounder has family ties to the state and enjoyed his trip to East Lansing, including the campus.
"I liked the way it looks," Cadogan said. "The people are great there, even the people that don't have anything to do with the football team. That's one of the things I am looking for is a place where there are good people."
Cadogan previously visited Pittsburgh and called the Panthers his leader at one point. He compared the experience at Michigan State to the one at Pitt.
"They are different styles of campuses," he said. "At Pittsburgh, it's right there in the city. You've got the Steelers and all that there is to do in the city. At Michigan State, everything is based around Michigan State sports. Everyone supports them."
Cadogan added that he plans to take his mother back to East Lansing for an unofficial visit. Wisconsin and West Virginia are the other two schools he has visited, and he hopes to take a trip to South Carolina later this month with a decision on the horizon.
It would be surprising if Cadogan did not commit before the holidays. Call the Spartans the team to beat.
New Mexico junior already a hot commodity
The Land of Enchantment isn't exactly a hotbed for football talent, particularly in the northwest corner, but Class of 2011 ESPNU 150 Watch List offensive lineman Matthew Hegarty (Aztec, N.M./Aztec) already holds five Football Bowl Subdivision scholarship offers and is in the hunt for more.
Stanford, New Mexico, Minnesota, Oregon and Arizona already have offered the 6-6, 265-pounder, while Texas Tech, LSU, Vanderbilt, Alabama, Florida State, Miami, UCLA and Notre Dame, among others, have been showing early attention.
"We have strong football here," Hegarty said. "The northern part of the state is not as well known for football as the southern part, where there are schools like Arteisa [which produced Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones] or Roswell. But there are good athletes here. A lot of it is because of lack of exposure."
Hegarty doesn't have an early favorite but says Stanford -- which he has visited unofficially -- and its business school have caught his eye. He hopes to take another unofficial visit to Stanford and perhaps a trip to Arizona in the near future, then map out which schools he wants to camp at this summer.
Hegarty holds a 3.9 core grade point average and says education will be a big factor in his decision.
"I know that there is a life after football," he said.
As for location, Hegarty said it's a foregone conclusion he will be going to college and playing football a significant distance from home.
"I have come to accept that that New Mexico is not too close to pretty much anywhere," he said.
Short stuff
Lattimore is scheduled to visit Auburn for the Ole Miss game this weekend. Auburn is one of the favorites for the talented runner. … Reports indicate that USC commit and Under Armour All-American tight end Xavier Grimble (Las Vegas/Bishop Gorman) has made it a priority to help the Trojans land Powell. USC is locked in a battle with Florida for his services. … Alabama is now showing interest in defensive end Adrian Hubbard (Norcross, Ga./Norcross). The 6-7, 225-pounder has offers from Clemson, South Carolina, North Carolina State and Kentucky.
JC Shurburtt covers recruiting for ESPN.com. He can be reached at jcsespn@aol.com.
