Notre Dame Football Recruiting: 3 Prospects Who May End Up Choosing Irish

Some may assume that Brian Kelly is content with his current group of commits in the 2013 class. That assumption is false.

Kelly and the Irish coaching staff are anything but satisfied at this point and have continued to hit the recruiting trails hard in the hopes of landing more of the nation's elite prospects.

Three of those top-shelf prospects have been deemed as high priorities for the coaching staff.

Who are they? Let's find out.

Mackensie Alexander, CB

It's no secret that Notre Dame lacks depth and overall talent in the secondary, making playing time a go to pitch for the Irish coaching staff to defensive back prospects.

One of those prospects is Mackensie Alexander, a 5'11", 175-pound cornerback from Immokalee, Fla.

Alexander recently visited the Notre Dame campus with a slew of other recruits, but didn't comment on how the trip went. He may not have had to, though.

The 4-star cornerback has narrowed his list of schools to Arkansas, Clemson, Kentucky and Notre Dame. In this writer's humble opinion, Alexander's decision will likely come down to Clemson and Notre Dame, with the final verdict coming some time during the regular season.

Securing a commitment from Alexander would be a significant victory for the Irish, as it would give Brian Kelly's squad three cornerbacks in the 2013 class. That's the depth the Irish have been searching for at the position.

Alex Anzalone, LB

Notre Dame's rampant success recruiting linebackers in the 2013 class may hit its climax this weekend, when 4-star linebacker Alex Anzalone will announce his decision at "The Opening" camp at Nike's headquarters in Beaverton, Ore.

Anzalone, a former Ohio State commit, has trimmed his potential destinations to Florida, Penn State and Notre Dame.

Working in the Irish's favor is Anzalone's close friendship with tight end commit Mike Heuerman. The two share conversations via Twitter quite often and seem as if they'd like to play together.

Working against Notre Dame is the late push made by Anzalone's in-state school, Penn State. The Panthers were recently added to his list of finalists. The historic but recently tarnished program has long been known as "Linebacker U," which might also be working against Notre Dame.

Fans of Florida, Notre Dame and Penn State will be anxiously awaiting Anzalone's decision for the rest of this week.

Vernon Hargreaves III, CB

Vernon Hargreaves III has been an ultra-popular name in Notre Dame recruiting banter for the past few months, and that still appears to be the case despite the top programs in Florida making strong cases for the 5-star cornerback.

Hargreave's profile on Rivals.com lists Florida, Miami (FL) and South Florida as his three finalists, but don't be so quick to count Notre Dame out of this race. Tony Alford, the Irish running backs coach, is one of college football's premier recruiters and has strong connections to the state of Florida.

With Alford working his magic and cornerback being a huge position of need for Notre Dame, expect the Irish to work their way back into the chase for Hargreave's services.