The run that the Notre Dame football team has been on this summer has impressed all onlookers. With the recent win for defensive lineman Elijah Golden, Marcus Freeman and Co. are doing things that few people have seen, even in this current era of recruiting, where teams like Notre Dame have a better chance of locking prospects down thanks to NIL.
Freeman and his group have been mentioned more than once by prospects as impressing whenever they manage to get a player to South Bend. Just how much they've impressed likely hasn't been looked at or given as much credit as the staff should get.
Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame recruiting: June visit close-rate fuels momentum for the Irish
Keep this in mind. Of all the uncommitted prospects the Notre Dame football staff hosted for June visits, 12 of them have now committed to the Fighting Irish.
Nick Reddish, Devin Fitzgerald, Preston Fryzel, Tiki Hola, Grayson McKeogh, Kaydon Finley, Joey O'Brien, Khary Adams, Rodney Dunham, Ian Premer, Brayden Robinson and Elijah Golden all came to South Bend unconvinced, all later became convinced.
Evan Jacobsen stands out as one of the only June visits to South Bend that didn't eventually decide to pull the trigger for the Irish. And while he's locked into Texas A&M, there's still time ...
The summer has been the kind of run that few Notre Dame football coaches have seen. It's something few fans have seen. And all of that success builds into a situation where there's more hype around the program, as it prepares for a regular season full of hope.