Posted: Wednesday, February 2, 2011, 12:31 PM | 7 comments |
 

Niklas Signs, Tuitt Stays, Giving Notre Dame Huge Recruiting Day

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This just in from California and the LA Times: The Irish beat out dreaded rival USC for Troy Niklas, the Los Angeles Times' lineman of the year, the premier lineman in Southern California. Niklas, from Anaheim Servite, wanted to go to Stanford, but his academics weren't good enough.  No word from Harvard. Freshman calculus class may be his first true test.

Some at ND feel that the 6-7 Niklas may actually play on defense with other freshman studs where he will join 6-6 DE Ishaq Williams of Lincoln H.S. in Brooklyn (already enrolled) and the most interesting signee, super-recruit DE Stephon Tuitt of Georgia, who committed to South Bend, then decommitted, committed to Georgia Tech, then decommitted and finally sent in his letter of intent today to the Irish.

Coach Brian Kelly got 23 new recruits, with a heavy emphasis on a predatory defense.

Chalk this one up in the W column, where the real battle occurs every year.
Posted by John Quinn @ 12:31 PM  Permalink | 7 comments
7
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:14 PM, 02/02/2011
    It represents the best defensive recruiting class in over two decades IMO. Kelly and his staff did an outstanding job.
    — matty177
  • 0 like this / 1 don't   •   Posted 1:16 PM, 02/02/2011
    Why is there space devoted to this? No one cares about ND. They stink and will always stink. This is Pennsylvania, I don't want to read about a school in Indiana.
    — Blue and White
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:51 PM, 02/02/2011
    This is Eastern PA. I don't want to hear from a whiner who cheers for a team from Central/ West PA. But at least Penn State has a young, vibrant coach who is in touch with modern day football. Ummm..on second thought...nevermind. GO IRISH!! Top 20 this season. Top 10 next!
    — EaglesPhilliesIrish
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:29 PM, 02/02/2011
    we hear every year about their awesome recruiting class, and they still suck. Hope Kelly hasn't killed anyone this week.
    — DogfightingAficionado
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:53 PM, 02/02/2011
    Shortly before I left ND in 1981, Fr. Hesburgh met with the graduate students. In response to questions, he indicated that the University's institutional model would be Princeton. Well, we all know what kind of football team Princeton fields. ND may stay a contender, as long as it can get lucrative television contracts to build the endowment. But I don't foresee its ever winning a national championship again. After all, football was a vehicle to take that one little Indiana Catholic college to world class status. Football was never the ultimate goal, although most alumni act as if it were.
    — orange rhino
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:40 PM, 02/04/2011
    The friends I have from ND consider Princeton or Penn or Yale their institutional models but wonder why these schools have football teams that cannot compete on a national level. This is an excellent question. The Ivy League should reconsider its holy-than-thou attitude about football and recognize that a competitive teams adds something to the school atmosphere.
    — Baltzellian
  • 0 like this / 1 don't   •   Posted 3:56 PM, 02/05/2011
    More articles like this and less about that cow college in State College coached by a guy time passed by 10 years ago.
    — Wilhelm Von Humboldt


7 comments
About John Quinn
John Quinn, 57, is sports editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer and is a third generation member of the Subway Alumni.

His grandfather used to listen to the radio and yell out to his son playing on the hardscrabble streets of Corona, Queens: “Bill Shakespeare just threw another touchdown pass!”
His father used to listen to the transistor radio and yell out to his son playing for Stony Brook on Long Island: “Joe Montana just threw another touchdown pass!”
He listens to the radio and yells out to his son watching Phineas and Ferb on a 46-inch HDTV: “Dayne Crist just threw another touchdown pass!” Meanwhile, Jack, 9, will not be a fourth generation member of the Subway Alumni.
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