Why Javian Osborne Picked Notre Dame Over Michigan: In His Own Words

Notre Dame recruiting stayed hot over the weekend with a big-time running back commitment
Apr 12, 2025; Notre Dame, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman waits to run onto the field during the Blue-Gold game at Notre Dame Stadium.
Apr 12, 2025; Notre Dame, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman waits to run onto the field during the Blue-Gold game at Notre Dame Stadium. / Michael Caterina-Imagn Images


Notre Dame recruiting picked up May just like it left off April in gaining two commitments since Friday. Linebacker Jakobe Clapper of Cincinnati announced his commitment on Friday while running back Javian Osborne of Texas announced his decision a day later. Both players are ranked as four-star talents according to the 247Sports composite rankings.

Why did they end up at Notre Dame though?

It's easy to look at last season's success and see that talented players want to join a team that can perform on the big stage but for recruits it takes more than just that to get them to come play for you. Osborne was asked about what made Notre Dame special by longtime recruiting guru Tom Lemming and shared that it was the people that he liked most about the university.

Osborne also spoke highly of Notre Dame's offensive line to Rivals and mentioned that as a big part of the reason he chose the Fighting Irish over Michigan as well.

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Takeaways:

Osborne's final two schools came down to Notre Dame and Michigan with the Irish earning the highly coveted commitment. It's still fairly early in the recruiting cycle as the early signing period is still more than six months away, but a indisputable trend in this cycle has been Notre Dame beating out Michigan for multiple prospects.

It's not to say Michigan doesn't offer a good amount of the same, but the relationships Osborne speaks of would suggest that Notre Dame's recent rise in recruiting cycle shouldn't be slowing down anytime soon.

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Nick Shepkowski
NICK SHEPKOWSKI

Managing Editor for Notre Dame On SI. Started covering Chicago sports teams for WSCR the Score, and over the years worked with CBS Radio, Audacy, NBC Sports, and FOX Sports as a contributor before running the Notre Dame wire site for USA TODAY.