Notre Dame continues recruiting momentum, lands 4-star OL

Notre Dame continued its recruiting surge Friday with a commitment from four-star prospectAlbert Simien, the top-ranked offensive guard in the 2027 class.

The 6-foot-3, 295-pound lineman from Lake Charles, Louisiana, is ESPN's No. 26 overall recruit in the cycle. He picked the Fighting Irish over Texas A&M, LSU, Nebraska and Ole Miss during a live announcement on "SportsCenter" following an official visit to Notre Dame last weekend.

Simien now stands as the highest-ranked pledge atop an incoming Irish recruiting class that features an FBS-leading 16 SC Next 300 commits. Led by sixth-year coach Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame has hoovered up 16 total pledges since March 30 and entered Friday at No. 2 in ESPN's class rankings for the cycle.

A multisport athlete at Louisiana's Sam Houston High School, Simien projects as a powerful interior offensive lineman at the next level. He took official visits with each of his finalists this spring, closing with a trip to Notre Dame over the weekend of June 19. Sources tell ESPN that Simien's recruitment ultimately came down to a narrow two-school race between the Irish and Texas A&M in the final stages of the process this month.

If he signs later this year, Simien will represent the highest-ranked offensive line pledge of Freeman's tenure and the program's first No. 1 offensive guard addition since Rocco Spindler in the 2021 class.

He joins offensive tackles Oluwasemilore Olubobola (No. 44 overall), James Halter (No. 160) and Jackson Hill (No. 278) as the top-ranked of four SC Next 300 pledges within a stout offensive line class set bound for Notre Dame. The program also holds a commitment from four-star offensive guard Richie Flanigan, the longest-tenured member of the program's 2027 class.