Tuitt turns back to Irish

January 19, 2011|By BOB WIENEKE, Tribune Staff Writer

A little stick-Tuitt-iveness can go a long way in recruiting.

And because of a never-say-die attitude, Notre Dame on Wednesday regained a valuable piece of its recruiting puzzle that 24 hours earlier it had lost.

Five-star defensive end Stephon Tuitt re-committed to the Irish Wednesday night, a day after he said he was changing his commitment from ND to Georgia Tech.

Tuitt’s mother, Tamara Tuitt, confirmed the news late Wednesday.

“That is correct,” she said. “He is done with recruiting.”

Tuitt, a senior at Monroe Area High School in Monroe, Ga., was visited Wednesday night by Irish head coach Brian Kelly, defensive coordinator Bob Diaco, defensive line coach Mike Elston and defensive backs coach/recruiting coordinator Chuck Martin.

The change back to Notre Dame is the second time in less than a week that a high-profile player has re-committed to ND.

On Saturday, defensive end Aaron Lynch switched back to ND. He had committed to the Irish in July but switched to Florida State in November.

The 6-foot-5, 260-pound Tuitt two weeks ago at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl said he remained committed to Notre Dame but also said that he would visit Georgia Tech. Tuitt made that visit last weekend along with high school teammate Demontevious Smith.

Smith committed to the Yellow Jackets over the weekend. Tuitt then switched to Tech on Tuesday.

But Wednesday night, it was back to ND, where he will rejoin a pair of East teammates from the Army All-American Bowl.

Tuitt, Lynch and recent commit Ishaq Williams were part of an East defense that registered 12 sacks in the game.

In all, Notre Dame has 23 players in its recruiting class of 2011.

Williams, a defensive end/outside linebacker, committed to ND last Friday. He, like Lynch, is already enrolled in school.

Tuitt won’t enroll until this summer after signing a national letter-of-intent on the Feb. 2 signing day.

“We’ll sign on the 2nd,” Tamara Tuitt said Wednesday night.

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