Notre Dame freshman safety Adon Shuler to miss spring practice after undergoing surgery
Adon Shuler won’t partake in the main perk of enrolling early at Notre Dame: extra practice. He will instead wait until preseason camp to put on the pads for the first time as a college football player.
Shuler, a freshman safety, will miss spring practice after undergoing shoulder surgery, a source confirmed to BlueandGold.com’s Mike Singer. Irish Sports Daily was first to report the news.
Shuler was a four-star prospect out of Irvington (N.J.) High School rated the No. 293 overall player and No. 25 safety in the 2023 On3 Consensus. On3’s own rankings tabbed him a four-star and the No. 266 overall recruit in the class. He chose Notre Dame in August 2021 over Penn State, Boston College and Maryland. His offer list consisted of more than 25 FBS teams.
Notre Dame identified Shuler as a target when he was an underclassman. He earned an offer from the Irish in May 2021 at the end of his sophomore year of high school. He was Notre Dame’s third commitment in the 2023 class when he gave his verbal pledge. Marcus Freeman, then the defensive coordinator, and safeties coach Chris O’Leary were his primary recruiters.
The 5-foot-11, 190-pound Shuler also played quarterback and helped Irvington win a New Jersey state title in 2021. He was a first-team all-state selection that season.
RELATED: More Notre Dame football:
• Hey Horka! A name Notre Dame should look at for offensive coordinator
• Analysis: Four traits Notre Dame should prioritize in search for its next offensive coordinator
The Irish signed three safeties in the 2023 class: Shuler, Cincinnati Lakota West four-star Ben Minich and Portsmouth (Va.) Churchland four-star Brandyn Hillman. Minich, like Shuler, enrolled in January. Hillman arrives in June. The class lost Denton (Texas) Guyer five-star safety Peyton Bowen, who flipped to Oregon on the first day of the December signing period but signed with Oklahoma one day later.
All told, Notre Dame has eight scholarship safeties for 2023: sixth-year player DJ Brown, fifth-year Thomas Harper, senior Xavier Watts, senior Ramon Henderson, junior Justin Walters, Shuler, Minich and Hillman. Brown, a 10-game starter in 2022, used the COVID-19 wavier to return for a sixth year. Harper is a grad transfer from Oklahoma State who enrolled for the spring semester. The notable 2022 safety departures were ten-game starter Brandon Joseph (declared for the 2023 NFL Draft) and Houston Griffith (out of eligibility).
