Notre Dame Football: Davonte Neal and the Most Controversial Irish Recruits Ever

Notre Dame is one of the most talked about programs in all of college sports. Their football program has been around since 1887, and they have arguably the richest football tradition of any other program in college football.

They're a program that recruits extremely well nearly every year, and it's been no different even though they've experienced several seasons that haven't quite lived up to expectations. They also have their fair share of controversy with recruits. It could include anything from a recruit bailing on the Irish at the last minute to getting in trouble and having his scholarship revoked.

With the way recruiting has really gained popularity over the years, it's becoming a lot easier for these young athletes to play games with the media and the fans emotions.

Here are some of the most controversial recruits Notre Dame has ever dealt with.

Deontay Greenberry

Deontay Greenberry was considered one of the top athletes in this year's recruiting class. He has great size at 6'3", 180 pounds, flies down the field and is about as strong as you'll ever find a receiver. 

He made his commitment with the Irish and was fully on board despite still taking official visits to other schools that were interested. Many still believed that Greenberry was going to follow through with his commitment, especially with his cousin, Tee Shepard, on the team as well.

The 5-star wide receiver didn't just turn down Notre Dame. He also turned down offers from Alabama, Miami, USC and UCLA, among others, for Houston of all places. It's one thing for a big school to lose a recruit to another top school, but when it's to a non-BCS program, that has to hurt.

Aaron Lynch

With recruiting the way it is today, your word really means nothing until you actually sign your letter of intent. That's why recruits like Aaron Lynch were able to go back and forth until the very end and keep fans on the edge of their seat.

Lynch originally committed to Notre Dame, but later backed out because he didn't see exactly how he fitted in the defense. He later committed to the home school, which was the Florida State Seminoles, but then backed out once again and decided that South Bend after all was the right place for him. 

It's a good thing he picked Notre Dame in the end, because he led the team his freshman year with 5.5 sacks and finished with 33 tackles. He's a big part of this Irish defense and will be a key player moving forward as the Irish try to reach BCS success.

Greg Little

There's almost nothing as great as the feeling you get when your team lands a top recruit. It really has the potential to change your program around and is a huge step in the right direction. That's why when 4-star wide receiver Greg Little picked Notre Dame in 2007, everyone thought he would work magic with Charlie Weis as head coach.

Things changed as he approached National Signing Day and began to get cold feet. He quickly switched his pick and went with the home school, which was the North Carolina Tar Heels. The Irish went on to finish the next two seasons with a combined record of 13-12, and Weis was later fired as the head coach.

Little never quite lived up to the hype, as he finished his three-year career with 969 receiving yards and only 12 total touchdowns. He's currently a wide receiver in the NFL for the Cleveland Browns.

Tony Rice

Lou Holtz was just beginning his coaching career with Notre Dame when one of the top prospects out there was quarterback Tony Rice. The problem was that the NCAA had just began enforcing Proposition 48, which forces high school students to achieve certain grades and reach certain test scores on standardized tests before they're eligible to play Division I sports. 

One of those requirements was that each player had to score at least a 700 on the SAT (out of a possible 1600). Rice failed to do so. That then forced him to sit out the entire 1986 season as Holtz struggled to put together a 5-6 year his first season with Notre Dame. 

Although in 1987, he became the starter and ended up leading the Irish to their 11th and most recent national championship in 1988. He finished his career with 3,273 passing yards and 36 total touchdowns and will always have one of the more interesting stories as far as Notre Dame recruits are concerned.

Davonte Neal

This is one of the most bizarre recruits in recent memory. The top remaining prospect in this year's class in Davonte Neal took forever to make his final decision. He then scheduled an announcement at his former high school, as it appeared he had finally made up his mind.

As friends, family, the media and approximately 600 students gathered in the auditorium, he failed to show up. Many were wondering what was going on, and nobody knew what was going to happen next, as everybody was left out of the loop. Several hours later, we have his announcement, and he will be attending Notre Dame this year.  

He was torn between Notre Dame, Arizona, Arkansas and North Carolina. And while this may have ended nicely for the Irish, it is a commitment that didn't come easy and added a few gray hairs to everyone's head.

Randy Moss

If you thought Randy Moss was a diva and a headache throughout his NFL career, he was even worse when he was younger. It was his dream to play for the Irish, and he did earn a scholarship to the university back in 1995.

But a fight took place at his high school and later forced the program to revoke his scholarship. He later transferred to Florida State, where he was dismissed from there as well after testing positive for marijuana.

After two years of nonsense, Moss was finally able to step on a collegiate field, as he later joined Marshall University, which was close to his home town of Rand, West Virginia. He finished his two-year career with 2,720 receiving yards and 44 touchdowns.

He then later went on to become one of the greatest wide receivers the NFL has ever seen. And Irish fans will always be left wondering, what if?

Randy Chambers is a B/R featured columnist that covers college football and the NFL. You can contact him @Randy_Chambers or [e-mail].