BlueAndGold - New York Defensive Lineman Is Fired Up About Notre Dame - Rivals.com

Queens (N.Y.) St. Francis Prep class of 2022 defensive lineman Kaleb Artis had a productive spring, earning offers from Boston College, Nebraska, Massachusetts, Notre Dame and West Virginia. In total, the 6-5, 260-pounder holds 11 scholarship offers.

“Everything was slow at first,” Artis said. “There was a waiting period. I knew offers were going to come in eventually.”

New York isn’t exactly a hot bed for football recruiting. There are 13 prospects from the Empire State in the 2021 class who are ranked by Rivals, compared to 274 in Florida.

Notre Dame fans will remember running back Tirek Murphy from Middle Village (N.Y.) Christ The King High School in the 2020 class. The Irish were involved in Murphy’s recruitment, but he ended up signing with Purdue.

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Queens (N.Y.) St. Francis Prep class of 2022 defensive lineman Kaleb Artis — The Fighting Irish put an offer on the table for Kaleb Artis last month. (Nick Lucero/Rivals.com)

“We produce here and will keep producing,” Artis stated. “We’ve had some big-time players come out of here. I want to represent my state well. We play good ball here.”

Artis’ most recent offer came from Notre Dame May 18 while he was speaking with a pair of Irish coaches.

“I’m very happy about it,” Artis said. “A Notre Dame offer is hard to get; they’re a great school. My coach texted me and said that he had just got off the phone with Coach [Jeff] Quinn. They had a 30-minute conversation about me.

“Two or three days after that, my coach gave me Coach Quinn’s number and told me that they wanted to get to know me on the phone. Coach [Mike] Elston was on the call, and we spoke too. They were both excited to speak to me. Coach Elston told me that they were offering me, and I was grateful.

“Notre Dame is big. I know they had a great season last year, and academically, they’re a really good school. That’s important.”

Rivals lists Artis as a defensive tackle, and as a rising junior, it’s plausible to believe that he’ll continue to grow. Notre Dame has talked to him about playing all over the defensive line, and Artis is willing to play wherever.

“[Coach Elston] says he could see defensive end position or three technique,” said Artis. “He could push me inside when they need a pass rush. I was happy to hear that.”

Artis wants to visit as many schools as possible, but he’s not able to do that right now with the NCAA enacting a dead period due to the coronavirus pandemic. The good thing for Artis is that he has plenty of time to get out and visit schools as a 2022 recruit.

“Every school that’s offered me, we look into it — pictures online and learn things,” Artis explained. “I do want to try and as many places as I can go to. I want to meet coaches face to face. I want to see what everything is about, including Notre Dame and Coach Elston. I want to go see those guys and their energy in person.”