What Notre Dame's Latest Recruiting Hot Streak Means for Irish's 2017 Class

If junior days ultimately do the jobs that coaches anticipate, positive results will follow. Ask Notre Dame.

In roughly a 48-hour span, Notre Dame's 2017 recruiting class went from "good" to "Top Five" after landing commitments from five athletes courtesy of last Saturday's junior day. Around this time last week, head coach Brian Kelly and the Fighting Irish didn't have a Top 15 recruiting class.

Notre Dame, at No. 16 in the 247Sports composite team rankings last week, is now ranked No. 5 after more than doubling its 2017 class between Saturday and Monday.

The ascension not only boosts the Irish—now nine strong with its 2017 class—in the national rankings but also puts the program in a positive light with athletes just in time for the beginning of spring recruiting.

Things started off on Saturday when Cedar Hill, Texas, 4-star quarterback Avery Davis (the nation's No. 7-ranked dual-threat quarterback) pulled the trigger. The next day, Pittsburgh 4-star linebacker David Adams (No. 4-ranked inside linebacker) committed.

Davis and Adams alone jumped Notre Dame from No. 16 to No. 7 in the national composite rankings.

Monday happened to be a cherry-on-top type of day for the Irish, as Kelly and his staff landed commitments from 3-star defensive tackle Kurt Hinish (Pittsburgh), 3-star linebacker Drew White (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) and 4-star linebacker Pete Werner (Mount Vernon, Indiana).

If you're counting, that's three 4-star players in Davis, Adams and Werner, a 3-star athlete in White who knows how to win playing for revered Florida power St. Thomas Aquinas High School and a 3-star in Hinish who has defensive chemistry with Adams as high school teammates at Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh.

You can bet Kelly and his staff are smiling. They have every reason to.

Six of Notre Dame's nine pledges are rated as 4-stars. Tight end Brock Wright (Cypress, Texas) is the team's top-ranked pledge and has been committed since June. Offensive tackle Joshua Lugg (Wexford, Pennsylvania) and tight end Cole Kmet (Arlington Heights, Illinois) are 4-star athletes who have been committed since August and October, respectively.

Wright and Kmet are two of the top three tight ends in the country. Wright is ranked No. 1, while Kmet is No. 3 nationally in the 2017 class.

And then you add in offensive tackle Dillan Gibbons (Clearwater, Florida), the team's first commitment of the 2017 class dating back to April of last year. Gibbons is listed as a 3-star lineman but could get that 4-star bump with a solid spring.

In short, things are looking very good for Notre Dame.

Around this time, recruiting has a tendency of taking a backseat to spring sports. Some athletes are competing in track and field, while others are playing baseball.

For Notre Dame to hold a junior day when some are on spring break was perfect timing, and the campus experience and overall camaraderie of the program proved to be enough for five athletes to give Kelly their verbal pledges.

Notre Dame now appears to be playing with house money—at least for a few weeks. The Irish hope to add to their growing class when targets head to the campus next month for the annual Blue-Gold Game, set for April 16.

Additional commitments could come during the summer when more athletes schedule unofficial visits with their parents.

There are still plenty of opportunities for Notre Dame to fill spots, and the coaching staff will continue targeting some of the nation's top athletes. For now, the Irish are sitting in a very comfortable seat as they build another solid recruiting class.

Give an assist to junior day.

Damon Sayles is a National Recruiting Analyst for Bleacher Report. All player ratings are courtesy of 247Sports' composite ratings. Follow Damon via Twitter @DamonSayles.