Notre Dame to fight Irish football in Rivals recruiting top 10

The Notre Dame fan base received great news late Monday night in the form of a new engagement.Valrico (Fla.) Bloomingdale’s cornerback Philip Riley picked Notre Dame in May, but backed off the engagement in September. He soon joined USC. However, the Irish staff never gave up on Riley and brought him back into the fold, which he announced on November 16.

Riley will sign with the Fighting Irish in December and register early. It is Notre Dame’s 20th verbal engagement in the 2021 class, which ranks 10th overall by Rivals.

The Irish entered the day in 11th place but overtook Clemson. The Tigers, however, have three fewer commitments than Notre Dame.

Riley’s commitment, according to the Rivals formula, adds 109 points to Notre Dame to his class total, putting the Irish at 2278. Clemson has 2240 points, and a place ahead of Notre Dame at No.9 is Georgia, who has 18 commitments and 2312 points.For more details on the Rivals ranking formula, click here.

Among the schools ranked in the top 10 of Rivals, Notre-Dame has the fewest four-star commitments. The Irish have seven, while the second lowest are Michigan, Georgia and Tennessee, all tied at 12.

This may frustrate some Irish fans, but what helps Notre Dame in the rankings is that nine of its 12 three-star engagements are borderline four-star prospects with a 5.7 three-star designation.

When sorted by average star rating, Notre-Dame ranks 16th in the country with an average of 3.45 stars per recruit. The Irish are directly above Wisconsin, Texas, Auburn and Washington, respectively.

Riley is Notre Dame’s fourth defensive engagement in the 2021 class, joining Justin Walters of Bolingbrook (Illinois) High, Chance Tucker of Crespi (Calif.) And Ryan Barnes of Quince Orchard of Gaithersburg (Md.).

During his recruiting process, Riley received offers from Clemson, Florida State, Miami, Oregon, Penn State, Texas and Washington.

Rivals ranks Riley as the nation’s No. 241 and No. 24 cornerback, plus the No. 38 player in Florida. Riley is originally from Washington state but moved to Florida in December 2018.

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