Notre Dame football recruiting efforts have been ramping up quite a bit over the last few weeks. Some of those efforts can elicit some serious emotions when big schools come calling for young highschool athletes. Such is the case for one of the Fighting Irish’s top targets in Jake Hildebrand.
Marcus Freeman and company recently offered the 4-star offensive tackle prospect out of Basha (Chandler, AZ). It turns out that when Notre Dame came calling, it elicited a real, visceral reaction from the very talented prospect.
Notre Dame strikes emotional chord with one of its top 2027 OL targets
“Once he said that you have a full-ride scholarship to Notre Dame,” Hildebrand told On3. “It actually brought tears to my eyes. I’ve seen Notre Dame for years; it is an amazing program.”
That’s an admission not every player would admit. Some go out of their way to make it seem as though every offer is just another day. That every school that has offered them is on the same level.
It’s a sign of maturity that Hildbebrand isn’t afraid to make it clear that Notre Dame coming and calling and telling him the school wants him there that bad, is very special to him. Especially when you consider that it’s not as though the offensive tackle grew up in the shadow of South Bend. He’s actually about as far away from the campus as one can get.
The 6-foot-5½ and 285-pound sophomore is ranked as the No. 55 overall player and No. 6 offensive tackle according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He’s got some big time offers already, despite being a member of the 2027 class.
Alabama, Oregon, and Texas A&M are all in the race. But when Notre Dame gave him an offer on Pot of Gold Day, it stood out from the pack.
247Sports is quite impressed by the prospect:
“Hildebrand is a swing tackle who can play on the right or left side but probably projects best as a right tackle or even a guard at the college level. He has a good frame and length, moves well in space and looks on-balance and fluid in his movement. He can play high at times and needs to continue to improve from a technical standpoint but he has plenty of time to do so.”
Now that Notre Dame football recruiting has made an impression on Jake Hildebrand, it’s time to ramp up the pressure and secure his commitment.