When elite 2026 five-star athlete Joey O’Brien set his commitment date for June 20th, it appeared that the pecking order of his top schools was beginning to solidify itself. The Glenside (Pa.) La Salle College standout is down to four finalists, Notre Dame, Oregon, Clemson, and Penn State, all valuing him at different positions and pushing unique pitches. 

On Friday, there were a ton of conflicting reports concerning the top schools for O’Brien. There seemed to be a lot of people in the Notre Dame space that felt optimistic about where the Fighting Irish stand, and there ability to close in the end. From those I spoke with, Clemson was a school that seemingly was trending the quickest over the last several days. 

Then there’s Penn State, a program you can never count out for top players from the state of Pennsylvania. While I personally was buying the recent ascension of Clemson up the list for O’Brien, opinions were all over the place. One constant remained the same, Oregon appeared to be running fourth. 

That changed on Sunday, when a very trusted source gave me some insight into O’Brien’s official visit out to Eugene. They were very confident that the Ducks made a major move. According to them, it is now a Notre Dame-Oregon battle, and the Nittany Lions and Tigers were falling behind. 

What can we take from this? O’Brien seems very unsettled in his hierarchy of these schools, and it does appear that he is a bit impressionable, and that visits especially have a huge impact on him. Who has been the leader for O’Brien the last several weeks? It really depends on his most recent trip. 

So within three days, I have now heard from several people completely different things. Some believe Notre Dame is the leader, others Penn State, Clemson, and now Oregon. It’s clear that this decision has yet to be made, and it could go so many different ways. There’s a chance that the Irish get a commitment from the Pennsylvania star in the end, or they could finish fourth. 

This has become a bizarre and impulsive recruitment. Anything can happen. 

The good news for Notre Dame is that they are going to have the last official visit with O’Brien on June 13-15. If that trip goes well, they should have a very good chance in the end, at least in theory. 

My optimism for Notre Dame finishing this one off has certainly trended upward from where it was just a couple of days ago. I am, however, not ready to fully reverse my feelings that O’Brien will pick someone other than the Irish. There is still an uneasiness to this recruitment in general, and I’m not sure there has ever been a full buy in to the program, at least not yet. 

With just a week and a half until O’Brien makes his decision, we will luckily get full clarity before you know it. The next 11 days are going to be filled with rumors, updates, and a lot of speculation. As O’Brien begins to narrow things down in his mind, there is no telling how things are going to shake out in the end. 

O’Brien is rated as a five-star, the No. 30 overall player, the No. 4 safety, and the No. 1 player in the state of Pennsylvania in the 2026 class according to 247Sports. Some see O’Brien as a safety, and others at wide receiver, while Notre Dame valued him at the cornerback position initially. At 6-4 and 190 pounds, he is a tremendous athlete that brings a lot of upside and versatility to the table. 

On top of his finalists, O'Brien has put together a long list of impressive offers. Some of the top schools that have offered him include Georgia, Ohio State, Alabama, Michigan, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Nebraska, Miami, Florida State, Michigan State, Missouri, Syracuse, West Virginia, Stanford, Boston College, UCLA, Duke, Indiana, and Illinois among many others. 

As a junior, O'Brien put together a tremendous season for La Salle. On defense, he collected 36 total tackles, one interception, and 13 pass breakups. O'Brien was even better on offense, where he hauled in 68 receptions for 1,029 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also threw a touchdown just to show off his overall talent.