Notre Dame's vaunted 2023 recruiting class suffered a huge blow as elite defensive end Keon Keeley has announced he is de-committing from the Fighting Irish program and reopening his recruitment.
Keeley was the first player to commit to Notre Dame in the 2023 class, pledging to the Irish over a year ago (June 28, 2021). At the time he wasn't considered a top recruit, but then defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman saw elite potential in Keeley and made a strong push to land him.
Keeley jumped on board and for a long time was a solid commitment, including pushing other players to join him in the class. Since then, however, Keeley has become a national recruit and is now considered a five-star player. Programs like Alabama and Ohio State, schools that didn't think as much of Keeley when Freeman landed him, eventually got involved.
