A pint-sized safety who committed to Notre Dame after camping in South Bend Las Vegas native Nicco Fertitta begins his collegiate career likely with a chip on his shoulder. It could be courtesy of a three-star ranking and some wondering what the Irish staff saw in the undersized defensive back. But more likely it’s just in the nature of the heat-seeking tackler, a pound-for-pound bruiser who seeks out big collisions, eager to prove his skeptics wrong.
Fertitta was joined in his recruiting class by high school teammate and blue-chip tight end Alizé Jones, bringing back memories of the recruitment of Manti Te’o and his tagalong teammate Robby Toma.