Notre Dame “Came Out Of Nowhere” For Dynamic Athlete Brandon Finney

The 2025 wide receiver board has been expanding quickly for Notre Dame since Mike Brown took over as the position coach. It got even larger and more talented this week when an offer was extended Owings Mill (Md.) McDonogh School athlete Brandon Finney. The Maryland native is one of the hottest names in the 2025 class this offseason, quickly becoming a bigger name and grabbing attention from a long list of impressive program.

Finney is an athlete that can do a lot on the football field. Notre Dame clearly likes him on the offensive side of the football, which is a little bit of a unique perspective according to McDonogh School head coach Hakeem Sule.

“It’s funny, the majority of Brandon’s offers have come at the cornerback position,” Coach Sule told Irish Breakdown. “It makes sense with the length and athleticism he brings tot he table. Notre Dame offered him as a wide receiver, which is really interesting. Obviously there will be very different and attractive options on the table.”

It’s going to be interesting to see how things trend between Finney and the Irish staff moving forward. Not only do they offer a different projection for the talented athlete, but it is also a very, very new relationship.

“Notre Dame came out of nowhere,” Sule explained. “I’m not sure if they had been in contact with him beforehand. They very well may have but it hasn’t been a school that I had heard from much.

“I actually shared film with Al Golden a couple of months ago and we never really heard anything,” he continued. “I’m assuming that they were evaluating him on the other side of the football. They clearly have been doing their homework and research on Brandon.”

The recruiting process can be very overwhelming for modern recruits. Finney has been learning the process quickly, and has maintained his composure early on. The deeper research on these schools will be happening in the near future.

“Brandon has been doing a great job with it,” Sule said. “He wants to get out to every school too, at least try to visit. Checking out the schools is important for him and his family. I know right now they are working on a schedule. They are a really thoughtful family that wants to understand exactly what every option can bring to the table.”

As a national recruit, Finney is hearing from schools all over the country from various regions. There doesn’t appear to be a hard push for him to stay at home. Finney is the type of kid who could thrive away from home.

“I think Brandon would do really well going away from home,” he stated. “I think that might be in the cards for him and his family. He’s a big time kid and he understands that there is a lot of opportunity out there.”

It will be interesting to see if Notre Dame can get Finney to South Bend sometime soon. If they can, how quickly that relationship builds will be fascinating.

Finney has seen a massive rise on the recruiting side over the last couple of months. He now ranks as a four-star recruit by both On3 and ESPN. The latter has him ranked the highest, currently sitting as the No. 224 overall player and No. 15 athlete in the 2025 recruiting class.

The 6-2, 185-pound athlete has seen his offer list expand quickly. Some of the notable schools who have offered Finney include the Irish, Georgia, Oregon, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Maryland, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Vanderbilt and Indiana among others.

As a junior, Finney put together a tremendous season on both sides of the football. On offense, he hauled in 51 receptions for 632 yards and four touchdowns. On defense, Finney recorded 22 total tackles, three interceptions and another pass breakup.

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