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.
Notre Dame!!! The experience was awesome, thank you for hosting a great camp! Great seeing ND…
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