Notre Dame Football Misses Yet Again on 2025 Wide Receiver

Notre Dame swung big but ultimately missed on wide receiver Tanook Hines

Oct 14, 2023; South Bend, Indiana, USA; USC Trojans wide receiver Zachariah Branch (1) carries as Notre Dame Fighting Irish safety Ramon Henderson (11) defends in the first quarter at Notre Dame Stadium. / Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Notre Dame swung big for speedy 2025 wide receiver Tanook Hines of Houston, Tex. but ultimately missed.

To boot, Hines instead has chosen to attend Notre Dame's biggest football rival, USC.

The 6-1, 185-pound prospect announced the decision on Monday.

For Notre Dame it's the latest bad news in what has been a brutal run of wide receiver recruiting for the 2025 class.

Notre Dame Football's Most Recent Wide Receiver Miss

July 4 saw Jayvon Boggs announce his commitment to Missouri. There was at one-time a good feeling for Notre Dame because of the timing of a Fighting Irish scholarship offer coupled with the timing of Boggs de-committing from Ohio State. Boggs never made an official visit to Notre Dame however and is instead headed to the rising SEC program.

Notre Dame's Key Remaining Wide Receiver Targets

Two wide receiver targets remain the biggest for Notre Dame in this 2025 recruiting cycle.

The biggest is borderline five-star wide receiver Derek Meadows of Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas. Meadows checks in with a seemingly NFL-ready body at 6-5, 200-pounds. He brings elite speed as well as he was named Nevada's Track and Field Athlete of the Year by Gatorade this past spring. Meadows pushed back his commitment date to July 20th. Notre Dame has a seat at the final table, but LSU, Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina also do which will make landing the big-fish incredibly difficult.

Dylan Robinson of California is another four-star prospect that Notre Dame has a seat at the table of. The competing schools for Robinson aren't as intimidating as UCLA and Washington are his only oter finalists. Robinson is a two-way star at Bonita High School in California where he scored six touchdowns and intercepted four passes last season. Robinson is set to announce his commitment on July 18.

Notre Dame's Current Wide Receiver Commitments for 2025

Notre Dame has just two wide receiver commitments in the 2025 recruiting cycle.

Elijah Burress of New Jersey stands 6-1 and weighs 170-pounds. 247Sports rates him as a three-star prospect. The son of former NFL star Plaxico Burress, Elijah also holds offers from Duke, Liberty, Cincinnati, Marshall, and others.

Jerome Bettis, Jr. of Atlanta is a Notre Dame legacy and the son of one of the most-beloved players to ever wear blue and gold. Notre Dame was early in the list of offers for Bettis, who ultimately received offers from Arkansas, Cal, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Missouri, North Carolina State, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, and others. Some peg Bettis as a defensive back but considering where Notre Dame is at with recruiting both positions, you can count on him to start his Fighting Irish career playing offense.