Notre Dame's Pot Of Gold Trading Cards A Hit With Top Recruits

ADDISON, Ill. — Josh Lugg wasn't sure what he was getting when a white envelop marked with '#PotofGold' arrived in the mail last week. Jacob Phillips wasn't entirely sure either what he was holding in his hands.

Both Lugg and Phillips knew to look for something in the mailbox after talking on the phone with Notre Dame's Mike Elston, but the recruiting coordinator might have undersold what they and other top recruiting targets were getting in the Irish's latest recruiting mail blast: a stack of 50 personalized trading cards detailing future careers in South Bend.

"I liked it a lot," Phillips said Saturday at The Opening Chicago.

"It was just a blessing to receive the Pot of Gold. They didn't really say what it was going to be, so it was a surprise."

And that, in essence, was the point of the package. Notre Dame wanted to make a splash on social media with the trading cards that were individually number 1 through 50 and Phillips helped them do just that.

The Nashville (Tenn.) East Magnet four-star prospect, who is ranked by Rivals.com as the nation's No. 6 inside linebacker and is viewed as one of Notre Dame's top uncommitted targets remaining on the board, took to Twitter to show off his cards which featured a photo of him in a Notre Dame uniform with projected career stats, a faux Upper Deck logo and even a dorm hall.

Lugg did the same. The unofficial ambassador of Notre Dame's recruiting class and long time commit said he kept a handful of his cards, which included a bio that said he would start 53 career games and win the Outland Trophy after completing his prep career at Wexford (Pa.) North Allegheny, and then handed out the rest to teammates, family members and classmates.

"I thought they were awesome," Lugg said.

Other commits that received the Pot of Gold and tweeted about it include Rivals100 tight end Brock Wright, who joked about his hair cut in the photo, Rivals100 linebacker David Adams and three-star quarterback Avery Davis.