Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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FOOTBALL RECRUITING ROUNDUP 70 PRESEASON 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED FOOTBALL RECRUITING ROUNDUP RECRUITING NOTES • The Fighting Irish had their most successful June on the recruiting trail in the Marcus Freeman era this year, securing verbal commitments from 10 of the 12 uncommitted prospects who officially visited campus. Among those new pledges were key recruits such as top-150 wide receiver commit Kaydon Finley from Aledo (Texas) High, top-50 defensive backs Khary Adams of Towson (Md.) Loyola Blakefield and Joey O'Brien from Wyndmoor (Pa.) La Salle College, O'Brien's teammate, offensive tackle Grayson McKe- ogh, who is Rivals' No. 4 offensive tackle and No. 13 overall player in the class, and another possible five-star prospect in Great Bend (Kan.) High tight end Ian Premer, who ranks No. 26 overall. Rivals awards five stars to the top 32 prospects in every recruiting class to emulate 32 first-round NFL Draft picks. In addition to McKeogh and Premer, Adams and O'Brien are in contention for that status as the current Nos. 34 and 47 overall players and Nos. 4 and 3 prospects at their position in the class, according to Rivals. Notre Dame also secured a commitment from four-star tight end Preston Fryzel, who attends Toledo (Ohio) Central Catholic, the same school that produced former Irish quarterback DeShone Kizer. Rivals ranks Premer and Fryzel as the Nos. 3 and 14 tight ends in the class. The other recruits who joined the commit list were Phoenix Brophy Col- lege Prep wide receiver Devin Fitzgerald, Red Oak (Texas) High wide receiver Brayden Robinson, Charlotte (N.C.) Independence safety Nick Reddish and Avon (Conn.) Old Farms offensive tackle Charlie Thom. With Finley, Robinson and Fitzgerald in the fold, the Irish now hold commit- ments from the Nos. 14, 80 and 83 wide receivers in the class, respectively. Reddish is the No. 60 safety, and Thom is the No. 30 offensive tackle, both nationally. Notre Dame's remarkable run is the main reason why it has the No. 3 class in the 2026 Rivals Industry Team Recruiting Rankings entering the 2025 season. • One target they missed on was Liberty Hill (Texas) High four-star defensive tackle Alister Vallejo, Rivals' No. 34 player in Texas, and No. 21 defensive line- man and No. 269 overall player in the country. Notre Dame offered Vallejo a scholarship April 14, and he quickly rose to become one of the Irish's top defensive line targets. The 6-foot-3, 310-pound- er's recruitment unfolded unusually. Although Notre Dame made his list of finalists, Vallejo unexpectedly set a June 10 commitment date before taking an official visit to South Bend. Instead, he made an early June unofficial visit during a quiet recruiting period, when few prospects were on campus. Notre Dame had hoped to host him the weekend of June 13 — a critical stretch that produced eight verbal commitments. But Vallejo only officially visited Kansas and SMU before announcing his commitment, with both pro- grams ultimately falling short. Vallejo's pledge to Michigan left Notre Dame down to one remaining defen- sive tackle target in the 2026 class. That target is Sarasota (Fla.) Cardinal Mooney three-star defensive tackle Elijah Golden, one of Notre Dame's main priorities since the start of the cycle. Before emerging as Rivals' No. 73 player in Florida and No. 59 defen- sive lineman in America, Golden camped at Notre Dame in June prior to his sophomore year. He eventually added a scholarship offer from the Irish nine months later during the program's St. Patrick's Day-themed Pot of Gold Day recruiting event. Since then, Notre Dame has held the lead at various points in his recruit- ment. He was initially set to announce his verbal commitment between Notre Dame, Alabama, Oklahoma and Virginia Tech July 26. However, he delayed his decision by two weeks to Aug. 9 due to a family matter. If Golden ends up picking the Irish, he would just about complete their 2026 class. That would leave the personnel department to focus on keeping their 26 other commits locked in and identifying flip targets without the pressure of needing to add a defensive tackle. — Kyle Kelly Sarasota (Fla.) Cardinal Mooney three-star defensive tackle Elijah Golden is Notre Dame's most prominent remaining recruiting target in the 2026 recruiting cycle. PHOTO COURTESY KETAA GOLDEN