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Notre Dame recruiting notebook: Houstan decision day; updates from elite Carolina offensive tackles

Singer headshotby:Mike Singer•05/07/22•

MikeTSinger

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Four-star offensive tackle Sullivan Absher during his Notre Dame visit April 23. (Chad Weaver/Blue & Gold)

Folks, it’s commitment season, and Notre Dame recruiting is on a roll.

And one major Notre Dame target is coming off the board today. Hagerstown (Md.) St. James School’s Devan Houstan, the nation’s No. 216 player and No. 28 defensive lineman according to the 2023 On3 Consensus, will announce his pledge at 4 p.m. ET.

The 6-5 270-pounder will choose between Michigan, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and Wake Forest. The stream can be watched live on CBS Sports HQ.

Michigan and Notre Dame have long been considered the two major programs to watch in this recruitment. It does seem that the Fighting Irish have separated themselves for Houstan, as the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM) gives Notre Dame the edge at 97.8 percent.

The On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine was released to the public in December. The On3 engineering group teamed up with Spiny.ai to create the industry’s first algorithm and machine learning-based product to predict where athletes will attend college.

It factors in machine learning, expert predictions, social sentiment, visits, and historical trends.

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Sullivan Absher coming off the board next

Belmont (N.C.) Southpoint’s Sullivan Absher, who ranks as the nation’s No. 176 overall prospect and No. 15 offensive tackle according to the 2023 On3 Consensus, announced Friday that his commitment announcement will take place May 14. It will also be streaming on CBS Sports HQ at 4:00 p.m. ET.

Absher has a top three schools list of Clemson, N.C. State and Notre Dame. Some pundits gave Clemson the edge, but that tune has changed, as the Fighting Irish are considered the team to beat for him.

The RPM reads that Notre Dame is the heavy favorite for Absher at 96.2 percent. The 6-6, 275-pounder was on campus for the Notre Dame Blue-Gold Game April 23.

“It’s Notre Dame football. To hear that I’m on their board is wild, and then to hear that I’m on the top of that list is surreal,” Absher recently told Blue & Gold. “They send guys like Zack Martin, Quenton Nelson and others to the NFL, and they’re some of the best in the league. To think I could be one of those types of players is insane.”n

Notre Dame a top school for Monroe Freeling

Mount Pleasant (S.C.) Oceanside Collegiate Academy’s Monroe Freeling, the No. 59 overall player and No. 6 offensive tackle according to the 2023 On3 Consensus, trimmed his list down to seven schools Friday. Freeling announced the news with a graphic via On3’s Hayes Fawcett.

Clemson, Georgia, Florida, Miami, Michigan, Notre Dame and Ohio State are the finalists for the 6-7, 290-pounder.

“Before Coach [Marcus] Freeman got the job, I really wasn’t too sure about Notre Dame,” Freeling said. “After seeing and feeling the energy that he has created there, they really took a jump in my recruitment. I really like Coach Hiestand and he has a resume to speak for him.”

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