Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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52 MARCH 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2025 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY MIKE SINGER A large part of why Notre Dame signee and Canadian native Will Black ranked as On3's No. 1 offensive tackle and No. 4 overall player in the 2025 class was due to his athleticism. His 6-7, 292-pound size only helped, but his elite athletic traits are what separates him from a great offensive line prospect to one of the best you'll ever see at the prep level. Last April, On3 director of scout- ing and rankings Charles Power said that the 2025 offensive line class was the best he's ever evaluated and rated Black as the best offensive lineman in his class. Black's athletic background spans back to when he was around 18 months old, which is when he learned to swim. At 24 months old, he learned to ski. As the youngest of three, Black did everything his big sisters did. His late father, Dr. Nigel Black, built a skating rink in their backyard in London, On- tario, and Will put on the skates at just 3 years old. He started playing soccer about a half a year later. The elder Black passed due to an ill- ness at the age of 44 when Will was just 5 years old. "It was really important for me to have him in sports," said Will's mother, Sharon. "He grew up surrounded by fe- males — his sisters and me — so having male influences in sports was a great balance for him." Will got much of his athletic ability from his father, who was a "natural ath- lete" according to Sharon. "He definitely would have had Will involved in hockey and other sports," she added. "He would've loved it." ACTIVE 'NONSTOP' At 5, he started playing hockey, which Black said was definitely his favorite sport growing up. He spent a lot of time around golf and tennis, too. While in elementary school, Black competed in basketball, cross country, volleyball and track and field. In the eighth grade, Black also started playing lacrosse. He played football, basketball and hockey in the 10th grade. There were no dull days with Black, who had practice or a game seemingly every day of his life. "It was nonstop; it was crazy," his mother said with a laugh. From there, things got a bit easier in terms of activities when it came to Black's schedule, but his development as a student-athlete continued to ramp up. He stopped playing all sports except football to give that his full attention. "I was probably in grade 10, and after the season my trainer said to me, 'Have you ever thought about playing Divi- sion I football?'" Black recalled. "I said, 'No way, that's impossible.' I remember a week or two later, I told him that I was interested, but I didn't think it was possible." Black's recruitment started in the fall of 2022. Through a mutual connection, Black was invited to Notre Dame's home game against Boston College, a contest the Irish won 44-0. "That was the first Division I school that I talked to," Black said. The trip had a huge impact on him. He realized playing Division I college was definitely a possibility. "After the Notre Dame visit, I thought I could actually do something," he said. "I had high schools in the states reach- ing out to me through Twitter [now known as X]. I told my mom, 'This is awesome. I want to go to the States to get recruited.'" The recruiting process puzzled his mother. "He started saying to me, 'I want to go to the States and play football.' He was getting so much attention," she said. "I couldn't fathom the possibility of the entire situation; it was incomprehen- sible to me. "Will grew up playing hockey, a sport where starting at a young age is crucial. Only a small percentage of players ad- vance and get recruited to play at the highest level. I didn't believe he could play Division I football after playing for just a couple seasons. "Initially, I was hesitant when he ex- pressed his desire to go to prep school in the U.S. in order to pursue his dream of playing college football. However, after speaking with local parents whose chil- dren had participated in NCAA sports, I recognized the tremendous opportunity it presented." RECRUITMENT BLOWS UP In March 2023, Black announced that he was transferring to Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Conn. He reclassified from the 2024 to 2025 class, making him a junior again in 2023. Black didn't enroll at Choate until the fall semester, but he started receiving scholarship offers several months prior to ever playing a down of football in the United States. College coaches hit the road for the spring evaluation period in April 2023, which is when he earned his first offer from Appalachian State. Even though Black wasn't even in school yet, coaches were able to gather enough information on him to start making offers. Pittsburgh, Miami, Penn State offered him too, and then on May 15, 2023, everything changed. His mother flew him to Connecticut to participate in a showcase at Choate, which attracted many college coaches. The main attraction was the 6-7 kid from Canada. It's safe to say he didn't disappoint. Nebraska, Stanford, Connecticut, Texas A&M, Maryland, Michigan and Virginia Tech all offered him within 24 hours of the showcase's conclusion. "I couldn't believe the offers he got Black, a native of Canada, didn't start playing football until the 10th grade, but he quickly rose up the recruiting ranks when he did. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER Five-Star Offensive Tackle Will Black Has An Athletic Background