Notre Dame‘s huge spring on the recruiting trail continues, with the Fighting Irish vaunting into the top-5 nationally in the Rivals Industry Team Recruiting Rankings on Friday.
Marcus Freeman and Co. entered the week with the No. 10 group in the country and an impressive 14 commits early in the cycle. What they lacked, however, was the kind of star power to elevate a very good recruiting class to an elite one.
No longer.
Earlier in the week, they beat out Miami and Texas A&M, as well as more than 20 other Power 4 offers, for five-star offensive tackle Oluwasemilore Olubobola out of St. Peter’s (NJ). That pledge pushed them up to No. 8 in the rankings, but they were far from done.
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Thursday saw the addition of touted offensive tackle Jackson Hill, and Friday capped off an enormous week when Rivals five-star defensive lineman David Folorunsho donned a Notre Dame hat and committed to the Irish. His addition pushed them past Miami into the No. 5 spot in the team rankings.
Should that hold, it would mark the first time in the modern recruiting era that ND signed back-to-back top-5 classes.
Rivals’ No. 9 overall player and No. 2 defensive lineman in the class, Folorunsho chose the Fighting Irish over Texas Tech, Michigan, Georgia, Miami and dozens of other offers. He was one of the country’s biggest rankings risers this spring, but Notre Dame’s early identification and offer won out. He visited the Irish campus twice in the fall and his high school head coach Tom Zbikowski, the president of his school Dan Santucci and his personal trainer Kerry Neal all played football in South Bend.
“The people that are around me,” Folorunsho told Rivals’ Steve Wiltfong. “I know what Notre Dame has done for them over their lifetime. Just knowing that, knowing everything Notre Dame offers, you can’t go away from that. You can’t turn that down.”
The Fighting Irish are up to 17 commitments ahead of official visits beginning later this month.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish commitment list
Below is a list of each Notre Dame commitment this cycle, along with their Rivals Industry national and positional rankings:
Quarterback
Four-star Champ Monds, No. 287 NATL. (No. 21 QB)
Running back
Four-star Isaiah Rogers, No. 199 NATL. (No. 12 RB)
Four-star Lathan Whisenton, No. 208 NATL. (No. 13 RB)
Wide receiver
Three-star Jackson Coleman, No. 894 NATL. (No. 125 WR)
Tight end
Four-star Titus Hawk, No. 332 NATL. (No. 18 TE)
Offensive tackle
Five-star Oluwasemilore Olubobola, No. 25 NATL. (No. 3 OT)
Three-star Jackson Hill, No. 1051 NATL. (No. 80 OT)
Interior offensive line
Four-star James Halter, No. 89 NATL. (No. 8 IOL)
Four-star Richie Flanigan, No. 335 NATL. (No. 23 IOL)
Defensive line
Five-star David Folorunsho, No. 37 NATL. (No. 3 DL)
EDGE
Four-star Aidan O’Neil, No. 110 NATL. (No. 13 EDGE)
Linebacker
Four-star Amarri Irvin, No. 303 NATL. (No. 25 LB)
Cornerback
Four-star Xavier Hasan, No. 47 NATL. (No. 7 CB)
Four-star Ace Alston, No. 87 NATL. (No. 12 CB)
Safety
Four-star Zayden Gamble, No. 177 NATL. (No. 13 SAF)
Three-star John Gay III, No. 846 NATL. (No. 91 SAF)
Specialists
LS Sean Kraft, No. 1630 NATL. (No. 1 LS)