Notre Dame Recruiting Target Skyrockets in Latest Rankings Update

David Folorunsho has seen his stock skyrocket over the last year

Sep. 1, 2007; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive back Tom Zbikowski (9) sings the Notre Dame Alma Mater with his teammates after the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets beat Notre Dame 33-3 at Notre Dame Stadium. | Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

As Notre Dame fans look ahead to a 2026 season that should see the Fighting Irish in the national championship conversation, the coaching staff remains plenty busy building for well beyond that.

One key Notre Dame target in the 2027 recruiting class has seen his interest from Notre Dame grow in recent months, but also nationally.

And he just so happens to be coached by a former Notre Dame football great.

David Folorunsho of St. Patrick (Chicago)

David Folorunsho is a top defensive line prospect in the 2027 recruiting class, and has plenty of traits Notre Dame fans will like.

He's seen his stock skyrocket in the last year as he's gone from being an unrated recruit, to earning a the No. 13 overall ranking in the class according to Rivals on Monday. That's good for the second-highest rating of any defensive lineman in the class.

Folorunsho got a major bump in the @Rivals today, going from unranked to the No. 13 overall player and No. 2 DL in the 2027 class ‼️☘️

I like the Irish in this recruitment ⤵️ https://t.co/XqHv7lu6x5

— Mike Singer (@MikeTSinger) February 23, 2026

It should also be noted that Folorunsho plays at St. Patrick in Chicago and is coached by a relatively recent Notre Dame great. Tom Zbikowski, who had many memorable moments in blue and gold, is the current head coach at St. Patrick.

Former Notre Dame offensive lineman Dan Santucci, a teammate of Zbikowski's at Notre Dame and a former NFLer himself, also serves as President at St. Patrick.

Experts Make Picks for Notre Dame to Land Folorunsho

As his stock has rised so has his scholarship offers. With a ranking like Folorunsho has, you can expect him to pretty much choose wherever he wants to play college football. Based off what he has said publicly though, that could mean very good things for Notre Dame.

When asked about what he's looking for in a program, Folorunsho shared his requests. As you can tell from listening below, Notre Dame would check pretty much all of those boxes.

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Thoughts:

I know it's always the low hanging fruit to look at where a star high school player's coach went to college and to assume that player will follow the lead.

In following Zbikowski after his playing career ended I've always found how he speaks about Notre Dame to be interesting. It's not that I've ever heard him speak poorly of it, beyond some know-it-all message boarders that used to give him a hard time, but it's that he doesn't oversell it, either.

He doesn't go around doing the forced "Notre Dame is the greatest place on earth" thing like former players at so many places do.

And perhaps, that authenticity, can be of value to Notre Dame's chances in landing the Chicago star this recruiting go-around.