Irish Gain 10th and 11th Commitments

Notre Dame has received its 10th commitment in a growing class as defensive end Justin Utupo has given his word to the Fighting Irish staff. Utupo doesn't come to South Bend with a ton of praise from the national recruiting sources but he did choose the Fighting Irish after getting offers from all over the country, including Oregon State, Oklahoma State, Utah, Colorado, and BYU.

Utupo becomes the third defensive end in the class, joining Chris Martin and Blake Leuders. He stands 6'2'' and weighs 240 pounds. Of the three commitments at defensive end, Utupo comes in as the lowest rated by the national sources.

Utupo may offer something that most other commitments/recruits are not able to do before they take a class at Notre Dame. Utupo is the high school teammate of both blue-chip quarterback Jesse Scroggins and four-star safety Dion Bailey at Lakewood High School in California.

Scroggins seems to be headed to the SEC in the form of a Gator, Vol, or to Southern Cal. Bailey on the other hand lists Notre Dame high on his list with USC, Tennessee, Washington State, and Southern Methodist all also included on that short list. I'm not saying its going to happen but it sure would be nice to see.

Utupo picked up six sacks as a junior at Lakewood High while also being responsible for 70 tackles on the year. He joins the growing list of three-star commits for the 2010 class of Fighting Irish.

Welcome to Notre Dame, Justin Utupo!

                                                    Tommy Rees

The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame can now add an 11th name to the list of 2010 commitments as Tommy Rees of Lake Forest, Illinois gave his word to head coach Charlie Weis this week. Rees becomes the 11th commitment as well as the second at the quarterback position for the class of 2010, joining Andrew Hendrix of Ohio.

Rees was not a highly-touted recruit nationally but did receive offers from Tennessee, Stanford, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, and Miami (Ohio). As he gave his verbal commitment he stands 6'3'' while weighing in at 192 pounds.

I have doubts that Rees is ever going to be the "next great thing" amongst Irish quarterbacks. Per Rivals.com rankings, this is the seventh of 11 verbal commitments to have a ranking of three stars. It is starting to seem that this class of new Fighting Irish may not have the same star rolls in the future but are used more to add depth to a team that loses likely 24 scholarship positions after January.

Even if Rees is able to simulate what the opposition is going to do by running scout team in the future, it is good to add to the class. Don't expect him to compete for a Heisman like most quarterbacks that commit to ND, but still...

Welcome to Notre Dame, Tommy Rees!