Notre Dame’s recruiting run took a hit Friday, and this one landed right in its backyard.
Monshun Sales, the top player in Indiana, committed to Indiana instead of the Fighting Irish, giving Curt Cignetti a major win and handing Marcus Freeman’s program a home-state miss it had to feel coming. Sales is the highest-ranked prospect in Hoosiers history, and the 5-star wide receiver chose Bloomington over South Bend after Notre Dame had once been in the mix.
The 6-foot-5, 200-pound receiver from Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis is the consensus No. 8 player in the 2027 class, the No. 2 wide receiver, and the No. 1 player in Indiana according to both 247Sports and Rivals. For Indiana, it’s a landmark pickup. For Notre Dame, it’s the kind of loss that stings because it came so close to home.
ESPN national recruiting director Tom Luginbill said, "The Hoosiers are getting one of those rare prospects that can really run yet also has terrific size," said ESPN national recruiting director Tom Luginbill. "Indiana has had tremendous success with bigger targets on the outside in former Hoosier and current Baltimore Raven Elijah Sarratt and current Hoosier Charlie Becker." That recent track record with bigger receivers may have helped Indiana separate itself in the race.
Sales’ production backs up the hype. During his 2025 junior season, he hauled in 37 catches for 794 yards and 9 touchdowns while also contributing 56 tackles on defense.
As a sophomore, he added 34 receptions for 568 yards and seven touchdowns. Over those two seasons, he finished with 71 catches for 1,362 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Notre Dame had reason to believe it had a shot after a fall visit. "I just love Notre Dame, that's that," Sales said after the visit.
" I just really love Notre Dame." But that momentum didn’t last, and when he trimmed his list from 12 schools to four, Indiana, Alabama, Miami, and Ohio State made the cut while Notre Dame did not.
That makes this a painful miss for the Irish, but not a program-crushing one. Notre Dame still has a strong wide receiver group in Julius Jones Jr. and Jackson Coleman, and receivers coach Mike Brown would have loved to land Sales. Even so, the fact that he was gone months ago softens the blow compared with what it might have been in years past.
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