Irish Breakdown

Notre Dame’s 2025 Recruiting Class Hinges on Florida State Weekend

Notre Dame hosted all of their remaining 2025 recruiting targets against Florida State, in what will be a defining weekend for this recruiting cycle

Nathan Erbach

Nov 9, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman stands with his players for the Notre Dame Alma Mater after defeating the Florida State Seminoles at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images
Nov 9, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman stands with his players for the Notre Dame Alma Mater after defeating the Florida State Seminoles at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images / Matt Cashore-Imagn Images
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Notre Dame hosted its biggest recruiting weekend of the season — and potentially the biggest of the Marcus Freeman era — when Florida State came to town this past week. Heading into the highly anticipated matchup (though by name only), the expectation was that the Fighting Irish would welcome their remaining seven 2025 targets. All seven of those prospects made it to campus.

The recruits in attendance were:

  • RB Nolan James Jr. – DePaul Catholic HS (NJ)
  • WR Derek Meadows – Bishop Gorman HS (NV)
  • WR Antwaun Parham – Monarch HS (FL)
  • TE Andrew Olesh – Southern Lehigh HS (PA)
  • DL Jalen Wiggins – James Rickards HS (FL)
  • LB Madden Faraimo – JSerra Catholic HS (CA)
  • LB Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng – IMG Academy (FL)

To make the weekend even more significant, Notre Dame also hosted numerous top prospects from the class of 2026, as well as over a dozen 2025 commits.

FSU Weekend Will Define the 2025 Class

How Notre Dame finishes with the seven 2025 recruits who were on campus will play a pivotal role in defining the class as a whole. While landing all seven isn't a realistic expectation, anything less than three commitments would be considered a disappointment. If the Irish can secure roughly half of these recruits, it would be a solid outcome that should leave the staff feeling great. However, if Notre Dame somehow lands five or more, it would represent an elite finish to the recruiting cycle.

The good news has already begun to circulate. On Monday night, Nolan James Jr. flipped his commitment from Boston College to Notre Dame. If you believe in momentum in the world of recruiting, it is also fair to point out that on Tuesday night the Irish also received a big commitment from four-star 2026 linebacker Thomas Davis. Jr.

The Notre Dame coaching staff is very much hoping to ride this momentum in the coming weeks, as the Early Signing Period is fast approaching.

Rundown of the Remaining 2025 Targets

One of the remaining dominos has already fallen with the James Jr. commitment, giving Notre Dame a coveted second running back in the class to pair with Justin Thurman. James visited South Bend as a Boston College pledge and quickly flipped. Several of the other targets are also currently committed to other programs, some of them to big time powers, and flipping them would be huge for the Irish.

Derek Meadows has been a long-time target for Notre Dame. When he committed to Brian Kelly and LSU back in July, the Irish were very much in the mix, likely finishing in second place. Fast forward to today, and Meadows is now heavily considering a change of heart, with Notre Dame emerging as a serious contender for his commitment.

Andrew Olesh has been a Michigan commit since the summer, but in recent weeks, he’s visited Penn State, Oregon, and Notre Dame. Olesh is a dynamic playmaker at tight end, capable of adding a new element to the Notre Dame offense. The coaching staff is aiming high, and flipping Olesh would be a major win for the program.

Jalen Wiggins has been a quiet, yet consistent, Notre Dame target for quite some time. The four-star Florida defensive line commit finally made his way to South Bend for an official visit after months of rumors. While the Irish 2025 defensive line class doesn’t yet have the star power fans might hope for, Wiggins would immediately elevate the group and give it the boost it needs.

The last recruit committed elsewhere who visited is Antwaun Parham, a newly offered target. It remains to be seen whether Notre Dame would take both Meadows and Parham to complete the wide receiver class, but Parham — currently committed to Tulane — is an underrated prospect who only began playing football a few years ago. While he may take a year or two to develop, Parham has the size and athleticism that the Irish are lacking in their receiver room moving forward.

Finally, Madden Faraimo and Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng — the two elite linebackers who have been heavily talked about since the start of the 2025 cycle — were also on campus. Both are long-time targets, and landing either one would be a big win for the staff, but ideally, they would secure both.

Personally, I expect Faraimo to land at Notre Dame. As for Owusu-Boateng, he seems to be trending elsewhere.

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Nathan Erbach
NATHAN ERBACH

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