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Notre Dame Football: Sunday recruiting roundup 8/7

By Greg Hadley

Dec 30, 2014; Nashville, TN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly prior to the game against the LSU Tigers in the Music City Bowl at LP Field. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 30, 2014; Nashville, TN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly prior to the game against the LSU Tigers in the Music City Bowl at LP Field. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /
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It was a mixed bag for Notre Dame recruiting this week, as two top targets chose other schools, but the Irish scored another 2018 commitment and will host one on the nation’s top corners on an official visit this fall.

Related Story: Notre Dame football: Sunday recruiting roundup 7/31

Like last week, probably the biggest news of the week was a name the Irish didn’t secure. Hunter Echols, a top-10 weak side defensive end in the class of 2017, announced he would be attending USC two seasons from now.

https://twitter.com/hunter_tyb/status/761766527829839873

Missing on Echols is a tough blow for the Irish, who once led the chase for the Los Angeles native after he decommitted from UCLA. He had previously announced he wouldn’t make his commitment until the Army All-American Game in January, but the Trojans came out on top.

Without Echols, Notre Dame still lacks a weak side defensive end in its recruiting class, one of the only holes in the class of 2017.

In another disappointment for Notre Dame fans, Orisis St. Brown, a four-star wide receiver in the class of 2017 and younger brother of Irish sophomore wideout Equanimeous St. Brown, chose Stanford over the Irish.

https://twitter.com/osiristbrown/status/761637920943984640

Notre Dame still has two other wide receivers in its current recruiting class, but according to Anna Hickey of Scout.com, Brian Kelly’s staff is on the hunt for more.

Now on to the good news for Irish fans. Four-star linebacker Matthew Bauer became the sixth commit in the class of 2018 for Notre Dame this past week. Bauer is ranked No. 2 at his position in the country by 247Sports, and his commitment keeps the Irish steady at No. 2 nationally.

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To put into perspective how aggressively Brian Kelly has changed Notre Dame recruiting calendar, consider this: St. Brown was Stanford’s sixth commit for the class of 2017.  In other words, the Irish are a year ahead of the Cardinal in raw numbers.

Bauer is also the third four-star linebacker of the 2018 class for Notre Dame, forming what should be an impressive core down the road.

Not that Notre Dame isn’t still focusing on the class of 2017. As the season begins and National Signing Day approaches, a number of recruits will reopen their recruiting processes and possibly switch commitments. The Irish have had great luck flipping recruits the past few years, and they got some favorable news this week about a potential target for 2017.

Shaun Wade is rated as the No. 2 cornerback in his class and already said in January he plans to attend Ohio State. But he left the door just a crack open this week when he said he would take three official visits to Notre Dame, Alabama and Florida this fall.

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Recruiting analysts say Wade is still firm on his commitment to the Buckeyes, but the fact that he’s taking official visits does bode well for Kelly and Co. Perhaps he’s not quite satisfied, and Notre Dame can make a last-ditch effort to convince him he’d look better in blue and gold.

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