Notre Dame football: NCAA levies punishment for recruiting violations

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - JANUARY 01: Head coach Brian Kelly and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players run on the field during player introductions before the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl football game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at AT&T Stadium on January 01, 2021 in Arlington, Texas. The Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 31-14. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images) /

Rough news has arrived for the Notre Dame football program, as they’ve received several penalties for recruiting violations.

The NCAA continues to prove it means business when it comes to any and all recruiting violations that take place under their watch. Unfortunately for Notre Dame and head coach Brian Kelly, that’s resulted in some penalties arriving to South Bend.

On Thursday, the NCAA announced Notre Dame indeed has received multiple penalties for its efforts recruiting a player from a Seattle-area high school. College football insider Matt Hayes is reporting the prospect in question is former 5-star linebacker Sav’ell Smalls, who ended up committing to his hometown Washington Huskies in 2020.

Notre Dame won’t be able to recruit a Washington state high school powerhouse until 2023

In the NCAA’s report, it stated that a former Notre Dame assistant coach visited with a prospect (Smalls) on his high school campus (Kennedy Catholic) before he was allowed to do so. The NCAA said that Kelly also took a photo with another prospect while visiting Kennedy Catholic in Burien, which is roughly 15 minutes outside of Seattle.

Per Hayes, Texas A&M and Florida have also been placed on probation for their recruitment of Smalls, who was ranked the No. 30 prospect nationally for his class. For Notre Dame, they’ve been placed on probation for one year, received a $5,000 fine, had their number of official visits and unofficial visits for this year reduced and more.

Not to be forgotten, the NCAA has also banned Notre Dame from recruiting prospects at Kennedy Catholic through the 2021-22 academic year. This is a big blow for Kelly’s staff, as Kennedy Catholic churns out top prospects each season under well-known head coach Sheldon Cross. Several top players from Kennedy Catholic’s 2022 class are already receiving interest from schools across the country.

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