The Notre Dame football team has reached the next step in fighting for one of the best EDGE players in the 2026 class in Zavion Griffin-Haynes.
The Irish had quite a bit of success lately regarding being among the finalists for some of the best players in the recruiting cycle. As far as Griffin-Haynes goes, the Irish still have to fight off some of the best teams in the country. But at least Marcus Freeman got his foot in the door.
The 4-star prospect out of North Carolina just announced his Top 11 teams and the Notre Dame football team is among that group. Now they just have to fight off Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, Miami, Florida, Alabama, North Carolina State, LSU, Ohio State and Florida State.
NEWS: Four-Star EDGE Zavion Griffin-Haynes is down to 1️⃣1️⃣ Schools, he tells me for @on3recruits
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) March 4, 2025
The 6’6 235 EDGE from Rolesville, NC is ranked as a Top 3 EDGE in North Carolina (per On3)
Where Should He Go?👇🏽https://t.co/gsAblcaqXj pic.twitter.com/1tZOzb3q3B
Notre Dame football gets foot in the door for Zavion Griffin-Haynes
According to Rivals, Griffin-Haynes holds a 5.9 rating and is ranked as the 95th player in the clas, 6th in the state of North Carolina, and 8th at his position. In the 2024 season, at Rolesville High School, Griffin-Haynes recorded 37 total tackles, including 11 solo tackles, and 16 quarterback hurries over eight games.
The defender was previously committed to the Tar Heels during a two month period last fall, but decided to reopen his recruitment right around Thanksgiving.
While he was once considered a lock for North Carolina back when Mack Brown was at the helm, there hasn’t been a real feel for the prospect since he became a “free agent.” According to On3’s RPM the Notre Dame football team has its work cut out for it but they’re in the fight. Zavion Griffin-Haynes has scheduled two official visits so far, to Georgia on June 6 and Florida on June 13. The Irish will hope to be one of those schools that gets added to his visit list.