Marcus Freeman started his Monday morning news conference with a message: “The day started off pretty well.” And now it’s clear why Notre Dame’s coach was in such a good mood: The Fighting Irish have their quarterback in the 2025 recruiting class.
Deuce Knight, a four-star prospect from George County High School in Lucedale, Miss., committed to Freeman and the staff. Here’s what you need to know:
- Knight is ranked No. 70 overall and the No. 5 quarterback in the 247Sports Composite. He picked Notre Dame over Auburn, Ole Miss and Tennessee, among others.
- Knight briefly attended Lipscomb Academy in Nashville, Tenn., to start the 2023 season but recently returned home to Mississippi.
- He is the third commitment in Notre Dame’s 2025 class, joining Florida natives Justin Thurman (running back) and Davion Dixon (defensive lineman).
The Athletic’s instant analysis:
What does this say about Notre Dame’s QB recruiting?
After signing Kenny Minchey, landing CJ Carr and now Knight, it appears Notre Dame is recruiting at the most important position in the sport with the urgency of other programs contending for the College Football Playoff. When the Irish took more of an every-other-year approach with top quarterbacks, it left the program in a position where it had to take graduate transfers Sam Hartman and Jack Coan. And while landing top quarterbacks in three straight cycles doesn’t guarantee the Irish won’t go that route again, it at least decreases the odds of Notre Dame needing to find another college quarterback to solve the position.
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Notre Dame has tried to go big at quarterback recruiting before under Freeman, but the Irish got burned by Class of 2023 prospect Dante Moore, who committed to Oregon before flipping to UCLA late. Minchey proved to be a strong audible late in the process, but he didn’t arrive with the reputation that Carr will or Knight could.
Quarterback recruiting is a numbers game. And the more talent a program brings in, the more likely it’s to have a top quarterback ready on Saturday. — Sampson
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(Photo: Justin Casterline / Getty Images)
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