The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are among the best athletic programs in the country. To the surprise of no one, they’re also one of the top academic programs in the nation.
That was underlined once again earlier this week when the Academic Progress Rating (APR) was released. The school in South Bend achieved a perfect score in a program record 17 different categories.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball, women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s fencing, men’s and women’s golf, men’s swimming and diving, men’s and women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s track and field, women’s soccer, softball, women’s tennis and volleyball all got a perfect score of 1,000. That was more than programs at schools like Duke, North Carolina and Northwestern.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish are expected to land another elite running back
The Irish football team is on an insane recruiting roll the last five weeks. After already landing one of the best running backs in the 2026 class, it looks like Ja’Juan Seider and Marcus Freeman are at it again.
Notre Dame was recently picked to land another 4-star back in Jonaz Walton less than a week after scoring Javian Osborne. It’s hard to know when he’ll pull the trigger but experts think when he does it will be for the Irish.
Ebenezer Ewetade moves on up
Speaking of that recruiting roll, one of the prospects Marcus Freeman was able to land is getting even more love from recruiting experts. Ebenezer Ewetade recently benefitted from Rivals rebalancing its rankings.
The EDGE jumped 79 spots in Rivals rankings going from No. 219 to No. 139 in the overall rankings.
Hosting an elite corner
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are not only doing well in the 2026 class but they’re also doing quite well for the 2027 class. Marcus Freeman and company are hoping to score some big points with Tavares Harrington. He’s one of the best defensive backs in his class and is checking out South Bend this summer after an offer last month.