SOUTH BEND — Marcus Fakatou just finished up his eighth-grade year in Riverside, Calif., but that didn’t keep Notre Dame football from offering the prodigy a scholarship for the 2028 recruiting cycle.
A defensive lineman who already stands 6 foot 7 and weighs 265 pounds, Fakatou reported the offer on social media after attending camp at Notre Dame on Monday. The offer came directly from Irish coach Marcus Freeman, who recently explained the sport-wide trend toward frontloading the recruiting process.
“Recruiting has shifted earlier,” Freeman said on May 31. “We’re looking at ‘26s and ‘27s. That is just the nature of the recruiting cycle. It’s gone earlier and earlier.”
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Case in point: Fakatou, who has reportedly grown 4 inches and 95 pounds over the past year alone, already has eight offers from high-level college programs. USC, BYU, Utah, Arizona, Arizona State, Washington and Auburn extended their offers before Notre Dame joined what promises to be a long line of suitors.
Fakatou, who is headed to Orange (Calif.) Lutheran High School this fall, was Notre Dame’s first known offer in the 2028 recruiting class. Lutheran is the only non-Catholic school in Southern California’s prestigious six-team Trinity League, which includes Mater Dei, St. John Bosco, JSerra Catholic, Servite and Santa Margarita.
The Irish recently welcomed their second nonbinding commitment of the 2026 recruiting class when Lake Mary, Fla., quarterback Noah Grubbs announced on June 1. At 6-4 and 205 pounds, Grubbs chose the Irish over 22 other reported offers, including Florida, Miami, Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Oklahoma and Colorado.
Wide receiver Dylan Faison, younger brother of two-sport sensation Jordan Faison, previously committed to Notre Dame on March 18. Dylan Faison, a three-star football prospect from St. Andrew’s School in Boca Raton, Fla., is expected to play lacrosse as well for the Irish.
“It’s the double-edged sword,” Freeman said, speaking generally. “You have to project. You have to try to create relationships early, but you also have to continuously evaluate. … As early as we’re recruiting now, we have to continue to evaluate — no matter what — throughout that entire high school career.”
The earlier Notre Dame and player-personnel director Chad Bowden can establish a foothold, the better the chances the Irish will be there at the end. From their sophomore year on, prospective signees can shape their high school class schedules with an eye toward meeting Notre Dame’s admission standards.
Increasingly, that also means taking enough classes to be in a position for midyear college enrollment just weeks after the early signing date for that recruiting cycle. Fifteen members of Notre Dame’s 2024 signing class enrolled in January ahead of spring practice.
Working that far in advance means a prospect will occasionally back off his commitment as his needs change or his profile evolves. Notre Dame, with a dozen four-star prospects among its 21 commitments, ranks second nationally in the 2025 recruiting race, trailing only Ohio State in overall projection, according to 247 Sports.
“I’ve told our staff this: I would much rather take a loss when we’re recruiting a person than when they actually get here,” Freeman said. “If we evaluate this young man throughout his junior and senior year and we feel it’s not going to be the right fit for Notre Dame, we have to be willing to part ways.
“That’s not easy to do as you continue to form this relationship with a young person and his family, but it’s not right for that young person and not right for us if we don’t believe he’s going to be successful at Notre Dame — for whatever reason — to bring him here.”
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. He is on social media @MikeBerardino.
