Pair of Top Chicago Catholic League Recruits Visit Sounds Bend

McNamara already has nine offers, including four out of the SEC -- Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, and Texas A&M -- and two more out of the Big Ten in Purdue and Washington. McNamara has excellent size for a tight end -- 6-5 and 235 pounds -- and expects him to continue to grow and put on some weight before he graduates. McNamara will probably have north of 20 offers before his senior year -- maybe even one from Notre Dame -- and could potentially be another prototypical Fighting Irish tight end who is utilized heavily as a run blocker and a top target in the red zone.

Burrell, on the other hand, was a sophomore last year on the Caravan's state championship team (third straight for Mount Carmel) and was the only underclassman named All-CCL/ESCC after catching 75 passes for just over 1,200 yards and 18 touchdowns.

The 6-3, 195-pound junior is ranked No. 2 in state of Illinois and No. 6 in the nation at his position and has 24 scholarship offers, including four out of the SEC -- Auburn, Ole Miss, Missouri and Vanderbilt -- and more than half the schools in the Big Ten -- Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Penn State, Purdue, Washington and Wisconsin.

Burrell has visited South Bend three times in the last year, two more than any other school he's visited, and don't be surprised if he visits one more time before the new year.

It's still too early to tell where Burrell ends up, but Marcus Freeman and his staff have done everything right so far in Burrell's recruitment. We're not big on predicting where high school recruits will end up, but when Burrell is ready to name his top five, expect Notre Dame to be included in it.