Notre Dame College Announces 2012 Football Commitments
Wednesday, February 1st 2012 @ 5:12 PM
SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- Notre Dame Head Coach Adam Howard announced the program's 2012 recruiting class on Wednesday.
The class of prospective incoming freshman and transfer students already enrolled at NDC marks the program's fourth since being launched in November 2008.
“We were able to really focus in on a number of targeted needs, and we wound up with a class we’re thrilled with,” said Howard.
The class is comprised of players from seven states - in addition to a wellspring of talent culled from the Buckeye State, Notre Dame recruited student-athletes from Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
“We received some very talented out-of-state commitments,” Howard indicated, “along with some solid Ohio guys and a few exciting transfers who are players returning to Northeast Ohio. Cedric Hill and Brandon Watkins from Michigan are three-star players with immense ability. Jeremy Glass is a big-time line prospect from Kentucky. Among our Ohio recruits, we’re very happy with players the caliber of Akyee Henderson (Cleveland), Joseph Nawalaniec (Parma) and Seth Rall (Bucyrus). And those names are just the tip of the iceberg.”
Hill is a free safety who had 71 tackles, five interceptions and nine pass break-ups in his 2011 senior season at Southfield High School in Detroit. His Southfield teammate Brandon Watkins -- a running back -- garnered 40 touchdowns in a three-year prep career and rushed for 1,300 yards in 2011. Glass is a strong 6-foot-2, 275-pound offensive lineman who was a four-year starter with a long list of accolades at Holy Cross High School in Louisville, Ky.
Henderson is a lockdown corner back from Glenville Academic Campus who performed extremely well at a summer camp at NDC in 2011. Nawalaniec was a three-time All-District defensive lineman at Benedictine High School (Cleveland). And Rall -- a tight end -- heads to College Road from Wynford High School where he caught 77 passes in a three-year prep career.
Notre Dame’s 2012 commitments include 49 high-school players and three college transfers. Those student-athletes join a Falcon program that itself is heading into its "junior" season. The Notre Dame program was launched in fall 2010, becoming the only collegiate scholarship football program in metropolitan Cleveland.
The Falcons went 2-9 in their inaugural season and improved to 5-6 last season. In fall 2012, Notre Dame will begin its first season of play as a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, a league recognized by many to be the top football circuit in NCAA Division II.
For media inquiries, contact Director of Athletic Communications Skip Snow at ssnow@ndc.edu or 216-373-5319.
Player-by-player profiles can be found here (and attached).
Complete List of 2012 Falcon Recruits (below and attached):
Player Ht. Wt. Pos. Hometown (Previous School) &nb sp; High School Coach
Patrick Barrett 6-0 185 S Niles, Ohio (Niles McKinley HS) Brad Yeager
Azarie Battle 6-6 260 DL North Royalton, Ohio (North Royalton, Ohio) Nick Ciulli
Kyle Bobo 6-2 270 OL Groveport, Ohio (Groveport Madison HS) Tim Brown
Mario Carson, Jr. 5-10 295 C Detroit, Mich. (Detroit Consortium) Dion Godffrey
Zach Chatlain 6-3 220 QB Bucyrus, Ohio (Wynford HS) & nbsp; Tom Phillips
P.J. Cleary 6-2 195 SS Pickerington, Ohio (Pickerington North HS) Tom Phillips
Matthew Cox 6-2 225 OL Lorain, Ohio (Lorain HS) & nbsp; Mark Solis
Nicholas Davidson 5-8 190 LB Solon, Ohio (Solon HS) & nbsp; Jim McQuiade
Richard Ellis III 6-2 215 TE Toledo, Ohio (Toledo St. Francis DeSales HS) Mike Blochowski
Clayton Evans 6-1 250 DE Venetia, Pa. (Peter's Township HS) Rich Piccinini
C.J. Germany 5-10 170 WR Cleveland, Ohio (Villa Angela St. Joseph HS) John Story
David Gilchrist 6-3 245 OL Elyria, Ohio (Midview HS) & nbsp; Bill Albright
Jeremy Glass 6-1 270 OL Louisville, Ky. (Holy Cross HS) Mike Fletcher
Marco Gresham 5-10 165 DB Dayton, Ohio (Chamidade-Julienne HS) Marcus Colvin
Michael Hageman 6-5 210 TE Chagrin Falls, Ohio (Chagrin Falls HS) Mark Iammarino
Akyee Henderson 6-0 185 DB Cleveland, Ohio (Glenville HS) & nbsp; Ted Ginn
Cedric Hill 6-1 190 WR Detroit, Mich. (Southfield HS) & nbsp; Bill Conley
Darius James 6-2 230 DE Springfield, Ohio (Springfield HS) Rick Robertson
Johnnie Korban 6-3 220 LB Parma, Ohio (Parma Senior HS) & nbsp; Rob Gyr
Brennan Laird 6-3 210 QB Olmsted Falls, Ohio (Olmsted Falls HS) Jim Ryan
Brendan Large 6-2 225 LB Grafton, Ohio (Midview HS) & nbsp; Bill Albright
Christian Lee 5-10 175 DB Reynoldsburg, Ohio (Reynoldsburg HS) Buddy White
Nicholas Marchetti 6-0 185 LB Middletown, Ohio (Bishop Fenwick HS) Fred Cranford
Frank Marshall 5-10 210 LB Waldorf, Md. (North Point HS) & nbsp; Ken Lane
Tyler McKenzie 6-1 255 OL Sunbury, Ohio (Big Walnut HS) & nbsp; Joe Weaver
Malik Merriweather 6-3 210 LB Elyria, Ohio (Elyria HS) & nbsp; Kevin Fell
Patrick Moran 6-5 240 DE North Olmsted, Ohio (North Olmsted HS) Mike Ptacek
Caleb Morris 5-11 170 WR Columbus, Ohio (Hamilton HS) & nbsp; Nate Hillrich
Nicholas Myers 6-5 305 OL Decatur, Ind. (Bellmont HS) & nbsp; Larry Getts
Joseph Nawalaniec 6-0 250 DL Parma, Ohio (Benedictine HS) & nbsp; Ben Malbasa
Haakim Oliver 5-11 200 LB Monroeville, Pa. (Gateway HS) & nbsp; Terry Smith
William Parker 6-2 215 S Wyndotte, Mich. (Wyndotte Roosevelt HS) Ron Adams
Skyler Parks 6-0 267 OL Canton, Ohio (Canton McKinley HS) Ron Johnson
Kyle Perkins 6-1 180 WR Westlake, Ohio (Westlake HS) & nbsp; Mark Campa
Kortez Prather 5-10 175 DB Waldorf, Md. (North Point HS) & nbsp; Ken Lane
Ryan Predovic 6-0 230 LB Macedonia, Ohio (Nordonia HS) & nbsp; Al Huge
Bill Pullman 6-0 170 FS Parma, Ohio (Parma HS) & nbsp; Rob Cyr
Seth Rall 6-4 220 TE Bucyrus, Ohio (Wynford HS) & nbsp; Travis Moyer
Brian Richards 6-2 250 OL Springfield, Ohio (Springfield HS) Rick Robertson
K.J. Rieder 6-5 270 OL Dayton, Ohio (Northmont HS) & nbsp; Lance Schneider
Ron Turner 5-11 175 S Cincinnati, Ohio (Northwest HS) Chad Murphy
Troy Vasquez-Atkins 6-3 305 OL Niles, Ohio (Ursuline HS) & nbsp; Daniel Reardon
Ty Vasquez-Atkins 6-5 320 OL Niles, Ohio (Ursuline HS) & nbsp; Daniel Reardon
Andrew Villolovos 6-4 270 OL Sylvania, Ohio (Toledo St. Francis DeSales HS) Mike Blochowski
Zenan Wample 6-8 360 OL Upper Sandusky, Ohio (Upper Sandusky HS) Jake Moyer
Brandon Watkins 5-10 190 RB Detroit, Mich. (Southfield HS) & nbsp; Bill Conley
Onslow Williams 5-9 170 DB Springfield, Ohio (Springfield HS) Rick Robertson
Trevor Winston 6-3 260 DL North Olmsted, Ohio (North Olmsted HS) Mike Ptacek
Garrett Wiska 6-0 265 DT Northville, Mich. (Detroit Catholic Central HS) Tom Mach
& nbsp;
TRANSFERS ;
Derrick Bavol 6-5 250 DE Tampa, Fla. (The Citadel)
Demetrius Best 6-3 290 OT Tampa, Fla. (Hampton College)
William Gray 6-1 225 DE Cleveland, Ohio (Erie CC)
