Notre Dame’s fall visitor list is starting to take shape, and two names worth watching are already lined up for South Bend gameday trips: quarterback Lord Malik Heru and tight end Grant Bowen.
Both prospects stood out at Irish Invasion, and both are showing real interest in Marcus Freeman’s program. Bowen is set to make his return for the Michigan State game after that initial visit, and he told Irish Illustrated he’s looking forward to experiencing the atmosphere at one of college football’s most iconic programs.
The 4-star tight end brings plenty of national attention with him. According to the Rivals Industry Rankings, Bowen is the No. 37 player in the 2028 class, the top tight end in the country and the No. 3 player in Illinois. Notre Dame has spent the last few recruiting cycles making Illinois a priority, especially as it tries to reestablish its presence in Chicagoland.
Bowen’s offer sheet shows just how crowded this battle could get. Alabama, Auburn, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas State, LSU, Maryland, Miami, Michigan State, Missouri, Nebraska, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, SMU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, UConn, USC, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech and Wisconsin are all in the mix. Still, the fact that he’s planning a return trip to South Bend is a meaningful step for the Irish.
He backed up the recruiting buzz with production in 2025, finishing with 34 catches for 731 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also contributed on defense with 55 tackles, six tackles for loss, five pass breakups, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and two interceptions.
Heru is earlier in the process, but his stock is clearly moving fast. The 6-foot-0, 195-pound quarterback from Indian River High School in Chesapeake, Va., has not yet received a rating or ranking because his 2029 class is still so far out. Even so, he’s already drawing major attention and looks like he could become one of the top passers in his cycle once rankings begin to roll out.
Notre Dame has yet to lock in a date for Heru’s visit, but he told Irish Illustrated that a gameday trip is in the works. The Irish will have to compete for him, too. Alabama, Auburn, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Duke, Nebraska, North Carolina, Old Dominion, Pittsburgh, SMU, South Carolina, Syracuse, Temple, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest are among the schools that have offered him.
Heru already has a gameday visit scheduled with Nebraska, which gives the Cornhuskers an early edge in his recruitment. As a freshman in the 2025 season, he posted 1,279 passing yards, 13 passing touchdowns, 104 completions on 158 attempts, four interceptions and 182.7 passing yards per game according to MaxPreps.
For Notre Dame, getting both players back on campus would be a strong next step. Bowen looks like a major tight end target, and Heru is a rising quarterback whose profile is only getting bigger.
In Other News...
ACC Finally Changed The Rule Notre Dame Fans Hated Last Year
The ACC has finally tweaked the championship-game tiebreaker setup, a move that should sound familiar and welcome to Notre Dame fans who were frustrated by how convoluted last years process became. Head-to-head matchups still sit at the top of the chain, but the league is also trying to make the system cleaner and more in step with how the College Football Playoff evaluates teams.
One of the more notable changes is the addition of the Team Success Ranking by Sport Source Analytics as the third tiebreaker, giving the conference another data point before things get too tangled. The ACC is also accounting for the fact that teams will not all play the same number of conference games under the new scheduling model, so nobody is unfairly helped or hurt by an eight-game slate versus a nine-game one. [Read more 🡒]
Marcus Freeman Just Gave Notre Dame A Massive Portal Boost
Marcus Freeman has given Notre Dame a significant boost for the 2026 roster by adding four transfer portal players who address some immediate needs on both sides of the ball. Defensive tackles Tionne Gray and Francis Brewu bring the kind of size and strength the Irish want up front, while wide receiver Quincy Porter and defensive end Keon Keeley add more help to a group trying to keep pace with championship expectations.
The mix is important because Notre Dame is not just chasing depth, it is trying to plug holes with players who can matter right away. Brewu also brings a familiar connection to South Bend through defensive line coach Charlie Partridge, and Porter arrives with the kind of upside the offense can use if he stays on the field. For Freeman, the portal haul is less about long-term development and more about making sure the roster is ready now. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame May Be Losing A Chicago Battle It Should Win
Brayden Parks is the kind of Chicago recruit Notre Dame usually expects to have a real shot at, especially with a four-star defensive lineman from the city weighing the Irish alongside Oregon and other schools. The fit is obvious on paper: a major program, a strong defensive tradition, and a campus close enough to home that his family can see the appeal without much explanation.
Still, this recruitment has started to feel less straightforward for Notre Dame than it once did. Parks remains in the mix, and the Irish can lean on the comfort factor of staying relatively nearby, but the decision now seems to carry a bigger question about whether he wants the familiar path or something that feels more like carving out his own route elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]