Notre Dame’s offensive recruiting took a massive hit on Tuesday when Will Shipley committed to Clemson, leaving Notre Dame with a bare recruiting board in the offensive backfield. Minutes after Shipley set sail for Clemson though, new cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens was busy locking up a 4-star corner to add to a secondary in need of an infusion of talent.
Notre Dame’s newest commit, Philip Riley, is a composite 4-star cornerback out of Florida ranked just inside the 247Sports composite top 300. While he’s not a 5-stat like Shipley, his addition should not be seen as a consolation prize to Notre Dame recruiting fans who no doubt felt like a jilted lover Monday night when news began to break that the Shipley recruitment wasn’t going to end well for Notre Dame.