Ever since Notre Dame landed Lucedale (Miss.) George County four-star quarterback Deuce Knight back in September 2023, teams have been trying to get at the touted signal-caller.
Ole Miss, Alabama, and others have been in his ear about flipping from the Fighting Irish to a program closer to home. And as Knight has gone through the recruiting process, he hasn’t completely shut the door on those other schools.
But he says all the right things about his pledge to the program, has been a vocal recruiter for them, and recently was back up in South Bend to compete with other commits and top targets at the Irish Invasion camp.
There’s still six months to go until National Signing Day in early December, but right now it looks good for the Irish to hold onto him, according to On3 recruiting insider Phillip Dukes.
“I’m going with stick,” Dukes said on Monday as to whether he believes Knight will stick with his commitment or flip to another school. “When I talk to him — we’ve had multiple conversations off the record, on the record — Deuce Knight is a really great kid. And I think Notre Dame provides so much that he likes off the field. Does he take a visit? Possibly. I know that’s pretty much taboo when it comes to a quarterback committed to Notre Dame.
… But I think he’s the type of guy that I can’t see Notre Dame saying, ‘Well we’ll drop you.’ I think he may take a visit [elsewhere] to poke around and make sure he’s making the right decision, but I think it’d be one of those visits for confirmation, not for looking for something else. I think he just wants to make sure he’s made the right decision.”
Of the teams still gunning to flip Knight from Notre Dame, three stand out, he tells On3’s Chad Simmons. Alabama, Colorado and Ole Miss are keeping the foot on the gas for the 6-foot-4.5, 200-pounder.
“I’m still in communication with them, I still talk to them, I’m not going to shut anybody off until signing day. I really don’t know where I’m at with the whole visit thing, it’s just kind of whatever kinda comes to mind, I might, I might not. I like Notre Dame a lot,” Knight said on Tuesday at the On3 Elite Series, an educational seminar discussing the new era of NIL and navigating life after football.
Rebels are No. 2 in the race for Knight
While Notre Dame is still the clear No. 1 in Knight’s recruitment, there is a school checking in right behind. Ole Miss has long been in the mix, and the four-star says the Rebels currently stand ahead of Alabama and Colorado.
Head coach Lane Kiffin, QBs coach Charlie Weis and Co. are providing an appealing recruiting pitch for him to stay in-state and make his way to Oxford. The vision is an easy one for Knight to see, as the staff has developed an impressive track record under center.
“I really like Ole Miss, I’m not going to sugarcoat it,” Knight said last week. “They’ve got Coach Kiffin, that’s all they really need. He’s proven that he scores a lot of points, he wins a lot of games and then he’s not scared to start a true freshman at quarterback … the experience him and Coach Weiss have, just being around big-time guys.”
Knight isn’t shutting the door on other programs, but flipping his pledge away from the Irish remains a tall task as he gears up for his senior season.
“I’m strongly committed to Notre Dame, those are the guys. They’ve been there since day one, ever since they started talking to me, they’ve probably never missed a week talking to me, so it’s been really good just being committed to Notre Dame, they treat me like family.”
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