Notre Dame freshmen DBs Ben Minich, Christian Gray to miss rest of spring due to injury
Ramon Henderson said earlier in April that his fellow Notre Dame safeties were “dropping like flies” in recent weeks. Grad transfer Thomas Harper and freshman Adon Shuler were already limited and out this spring, respectively, as they recovered from shoulder surgery. Justin Walters’ medical retirement was announced on the first day of spring practice, which trimmed the number of scholarship safeties to six.
Another one has joined the unavailable crowd.
Freshman Ben Minich is out for the remainder of spring due to a hand injury, head coach Marcus Freeman said Saturday. He was spotted in street clothes during Wednesday’s practice. He had a surgical procedure to fix a thumb injury, Freeman said. Freshman cornerback Christian Gray had a knee scope April 13 and will also miss the rest of spring, Freeman said. Junior linebacker Prince Kollie is in concussion protocol, but has not been ruled out through the April 22 Blue-Gold Game.
The most impactful of those three absences on a depth chart is Minich’s, which leaves Notre Dame with three fully healthy scholarship safeties for the rest of spring: Henderson, senior Xavier Watts and sixth-year player DJ Brown. Walk-on Marty Auer earned second-team reps in Minich’s place. Those four are likely the Irish’s top four safeties for the final week of spring practice. Henderson, Brown and Watts all saw first-team action in Wednesday’s practice, the most recent one open to reporters.
Shuler and Harper are expected back for preseason camp in August. Harper, who transferred from Oklahoma State in January, has been participating in position drills and seven-on-seven work this spring, but is not partaking in full contact portions of practice. Minich is expected to return for fall camp as well.
All told, it’s a situation that begs for an addition, be it a player who moves from another position or a transfer. That was the case even before Minich’s injury.
“Number-wise, we still need help,” defensive coordinator Al Golden said Saturday.
Freeman acknowledged after the first spring practice that Notre Dame would evaluate the need for adding a transfer at safety. Position coach Chris O’Leary didn’t downplay the notion that a transfer was possible.
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“It’s evaluating this spring how ready our two-deep was to play on the big stage and push for a national title,” O’Leary said April 4. “That’s the decision we’re making. Beyond that, we have numbers that we want to get guys to develop. We’re always evaluating that situation. I’ve told them we might look in the portal in May. It just depends. That’s a fluid situation.”
The 6-foot, 190-pound Minich was working with the second team before his injury. He enrolled in January as a four-star recruit from Cincinnati Lakota West. He was the No. 303 overall player and No. 27 safety in the 2023 On3 Industry Ranking.
“He’s fast, tough and extremely intelligent,” O’Leary said. “With those three things, he’s going to be a really good player for us. He has a really good skill set playing the post, breaking on the ball. He might have the most picks this spring for us. He’s going to turn into a good player.”
Gray, meanwhile, had earned second-team reps at cornerback. The St. Louis native and product of De Smet High School was the No. 112 player in the On3 Industry Ranking.
