Wallingford (Conn.) Choate Rosemary Hall class of 2025 offensive tackle Will Black is the latest prospect to commit to the University of Notre Dame. The 6-7, 295-pounder picked the Fighting Irish over Michigan, Alabama and Penn State.
In Black, Notre Dame landed a 247Sports three-star prospect, the No. 30 offensive tackle in the country and No. 1 recruit in Connecticut. The composite rankings list him as a four-star prospect, the No. 316 overall talent next cycle and the No. 29 player at his position.
Black recently visited Michigan in early December and most recently made his way to Notre Dame. Those two schools looked to be top contenders for the coveted prospect and it came as little surprise when he locked in the commitment date shortly after wrapping up both visits.
Initially, Michigan seemed to have the edge. He had a tremendous visit to Ann Arbor, spent a lot of time with Sherrone Moore and things were trending in favor of the Wolverines. However, it’s clear the trip to South Bend was a game-changer. Joe Rudolph was able to get Black around the current offensive linemen and that may have made the biggest impact in the end.
This is a big win for Notre Dame and it add to an already strong group of commits already locked in to play for the Fighting Irish. Defensive back Ivan Taylor is 247Sports’ No. 33 overall player in the country, tight end James Flanigan is No. 116 overall, quarterback Deuce Knight is No. 139 nationally and edge-rusher CJ May is also inside the Top200 in the 2025 class. The 11 commits give Notre Dame one of the premier classes in the country.
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Offensive Lineman Will Black In-Depth on Notre Dame Commitment
Notre Dame added to its already strong class of 2025 recruiting class today. Wallingford (Conn.) Choate Rosemary Hall offensive tackle Will Black is the newest member of the Fighting Irish commit list.
Notre Dame added to its already strong class of 2025 recruiting class today. Wallingford (Conn.) Choate Rosemary Hall offensive tackle Will Black is the newest member of the Fighting Irish commit list. Black is a four-star prospect per the composite rankings and a three-star according to 247Sports’ standalone rankings.
The 6-7, 295-pounder picked the Fighting Irish over Michigan, Alabama and Penn State.
Ahead of his public commitment, Black spoke with Irish Illustrated and 247Sports about his decision.
On why Notre Dame over the others
“Notre Dame is a great football program, combined with great academics, as well as coaches. That’s what separated it.”
On when he knew he was headed to Notre Dame
“I knew I was ready to commit during my visit this past Saturday.”
On offensive line coach Joe Rudolph
“My relationship with Joe Rudolph is very strong. I like him a lot as a coach, as well as a person.”
On head coach Marcus Freeman
“I have a great relationship with him/ I believe he is an amazing coach and a family man.”
On the offensive line tradition playing into his decision
“Notre Dame is ‘O-Line U’ and that is something I want to be a part of.”
The Irish Illustrated team features a staff of 6 sports media professionals, including 4 Notre Dame graduates – the most of any organization that is comprehensively covering Notre Dame football, basketball, and recruiting.
10 college basketball takes: Was divorce a good thing for UNC and how real is Chris Beard’s Ole Miss club?
News, notes, nuggets, stats and takeaways from a college basketball season where no one is safe.
1. IS DIVORCE GOOD SOMETIMES?
Just over five years ago, in a prior life, I was a college student at Illinois covering football for the Illini Inquirer (the 247Sports pipeline started early). Illinois wasn’t good, but Lovie Smith was out to change that. I, too, wasn’t good at this whole journalism thing, but covering Smith was supposed to help change that. Smith opted to go young and play dozens of freshmen from an all-important Class of 2017. Illinois was one of the youngest teams in the country, and a freshman-laden squad got shellacked often during a 2-10 season. But a few of the freshmen looked like gems. None bigger than Bennett Williams. The safety was a Freshman All-American and looked like a complete steal. Williams entered his sophomore season with super high expectations.
Williams barely made it to the midseason mark before he was kicked off the team for a violation of team rules. It came a couple of hours after Illinois got shellacked by Purdue, 46-7.
I asked Smith why.
“Divorce is good sometimes,” Smith said matter-of-factly.
Admittedly, in the moment, it made me a bit uncomfortable and felt wrong. Williams looked like a building block who could anchor Smith’s Tampa 2 defense for years to come. Williams never forgot about it, and he let the world know about it a few times when he went on to have a sterling career for a very good Oregon program. Smith was fired after five disappointing years at Illinois.
I still think about it a lot. Maybe divorce wasn’t good for Illinois and Williams because one side seems to have won that transaction.
But has divorce been good for R.J. Davis and Caleb Love?
Love chose to leave and it’s worked out marvelously. Davis chose to stay and it’s worked out pretty darn well, too. Love has been one of the 10 best transfers so far this season for Arizona. Davis helped UNC knock Oklahoma from the ranks of the unbeaten on Wednesday with a 23-point, five-assist, four-rebound evisceration. The senior guard is averaging a career-best 21.7 points to go along with 3.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game while shooting 38.1% from downtown.
Love and Davis once formed a backcourt that was once considered maybe the best in the country. Now, Love looks like Arizona’s best player. Davis looks like UNC’s best player.
“Sometimes in life, you’ve got to get divorced,” UNC star Armando Bacot told FOX’s John Fanta before the season. “You have to do things like that. Caleb is like the wife you divorced, but you both still have a kid together. He hit one of the greatest shots in North Carolina history. It’s tough to see him go, but he’ll always be a part of history here.”
Maybe Lovie Smith was right all along?
2. OHIO STATE HAS AN UNHERALDED ANCHOR
(Photo: Getty)
Ohio State is off to a 9-2 start mostly thanks to its torrid shooting. Bruce Thornton, Roddy Gayle, Jamison Battle and Dale Bonner are all shooting over 37% from downtown on significant volume. It’s helped Chris Holtmann engineer a top-15 offense nationally.
Conversely, Ohio State’s defense has been mostly solid. Expected Big Ten bottom-feeders like Minnesota and Penn State both averaged over 1.07 points per possession against Ohio State. SEC contenders Alabama and Texas A&M zoomed to 1.12 points per possession.
When preseason priors are taken out of the equation, Ohio State’s defense ranks 65th nationally, per Bart Torvik. Nothing bad, nothing special.
But it’s clouding the brilliance of Felix Okpara and the things he’s doing every night on the defensive end. Ohio State’s sophomore center has taken a real jump into one of the premier defensive big men in the Big Ten. Okpara puts a “Do Not Enter” sign around the paint. Just 28.3% of the opponent’s shots come at the rim against Ohio State, and when they get to the cup, they aren’t finishing with a lot of success. Overall, opponents are shooting a minuscule 49.5% at the tin when Okpara is in the game. When Okpara is the closest defender, he turns people’s water off (6-for-20 at the rim), per Synergy. Oh, and Okpara has the 11th-best block percentage in the country through 11 games.
It’s even more jarring when Okpara is on the bench. Ohio State’s rim defense goes from a real strength to a genuine weakness. Oppo
