Watch: Talking Notre Dame Chicago recruits, whether the Irish should still recruit Deuce Knight
Just days removed from his Notre Dame football recruiting-related travels in Chicago, Blue & Gold recruiting reporter Kyle Kelly joined WSBT’s Darin Pritchett for a 15-minute update on Wednesday.
They discussed Kelly’s stops around the top high schools in Chicago, 2025 wide receiver target Jalen Cooper, defensive line target Jalen Wiggins, whether the Fighting Irish will keep recruiting former quarterback commit Deuce Knight and who the most undervalued pledge is in the current class.
Watch Notre Dame football recruiting update with Blue & Gold’s Kyle Kelly and WSBT’s Darin Pritchett
Here are the timestamps of key talking points in the video:
— Intro (0:00-0:24)
— Chicagoland recruiting travels, including seeing Irish four-star EDGE commit Christopher Burgess Jr. in action Thursday night (0:25-2:32). Chicago Simeon’s Burgess is the On3 Industry Ranking’s No. 111 overall player, No. 15 EDGE nationally and No. 4 prospect in Illinois in the 2026 class.
Burgess had 12 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery and 1 quarterback hurry in a 30-14 victory over Chicago Amundsen. Kelly revealed two key coaches attended Burgess’ game.
— More Chicagoland recruiting travels, including time spent with 2026 four-star defensive line target McHale Blade and EDGE target Braeden Jones (2:33-4:01).
Blade, the No. 92 overall player and No. 10 defensive lineman in 2026, attends Simeon with Burgess. However, he did not play Thursday night due to injury. Chicago Mount Carmel’s Jones is the No. 134 overall player and No. 12 EDGE in the class.
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— Cooper official visit (4:02-6:50). The 6-1, 160-pound Cooper, a product of Cibolo (Texas) Steele and committed to SMU. Yet, he will be in South Bend for the Stanford game on Saturday. He ranks as the No. 251 overall player, No. 33 wide receiver nationally and No. 35 prospect in Texas in 2025.
— Wiggins recruitment (6:51-9:12). The Irish want to flip Tallahassee (Fla.) James Rickards’ Wiggins from his Florida pledge. He is the No. 115 overall player, No. 10 defensive lineman in the country and No. 19 prospect in Florida in 2025.
— Whether the Irish should circle back to Knight (9:13-11:16). He flipped from the Irish to Auburn last Wednesday. The Lucedale (Miss.) George County senior is the No. 37 overall player and No. 7 quarterback in 2025.
— One or two underrated or undervalued players in Notre Dame’s 2025 recruiting class (11:17-14:07). Kelly revealed two prospects.
— Closing (14:08-15:02).
You can watch the video in full below.
