Notre Dame football is set to kick off an extremely important set of official visits this weekend. Head coach Marcus Freeman, defensive line coach Charlie Partridge, and the Fighting Irish will be hosting a long list of impressive 2027 defensive line recruiting targets. That includes Chicago (Ill.) Brother Rice defensive tackle Brayden Parks.

The Parks’ recruitment has been a fascinating one to watch over the last several months. Notre Dame has been fighting with the Oregon Ducks, among a couple of others, for Parks. The Chicagoland native will be making yet another trip to South Bend, and this is the team’s chance to try to close accordingly.

Here is the latest with Parks and Notre Dame’s push. It has been a fascinating recruitment to watch.

The latest between Parks and Notre Dame

From the very beginning, Notre Dame was considered to be a top option for Parks. His godfather, Chris Zorich, is a former Fighting Irish great, is from Chicago, and also trains with former Notre Dame defender Kerry Neal. On paper, this should have been an easy fit.

Unfortunately for Notre Dame, Oregon didn’t care about his background with the program. A couple of months ago, the Ducks made a strong move, and it felt like Oregon could be the team to beat. Then Notre Dame recovered.

Once again, about a month ago, it looked like Oregon could separate. Then Notre Dame recovered again. Now this feels like a 50/50 battle going into this visit. I wouldn’t typically pick against Freeman and Co. when closing. The next several days will be extremely important.

Notre Dame already holds commitments from defensive tackle David Folorunsho, defensive end Aidan O’Neil, and pass rusher Jackson Vaughn. Potentially pairing Folorunsho inside with someone like Parks would be tremendous. Only time will tell if the Irish staff can close this one out.

Brayden Parks’ recruiting background 

Parks is considered to be a four-star player by each of the major recruiting platforms right now. On the 247 Sports Composite ranking, Parks currently sits as the No. 192 overall player and No. 25 defensive lineman in the 2027 recruiting class. He is also pegged as the No. 10 player in the state of Illinois, a very important area for the Irish. 247 Sports is actually the highest on Parks right now, sitting as the No. 162 overall player on their individual ranking.

The offer list for Parks is even more impressive than his recruiting rankings. Some of the top programs that have offered Parks includes the Fighting Irish, Alabama, Ohio State, Texas, Oregon, Michigan, LSU, Ole Miss, Penn State, USC, Miami, Auburn, Nebraska, Michigan State, Indiana, Kansas State, Iowa, Illinois, Washington, Arkansas, Arizona State, Iowa State, Minnesota, UNC, Purdue, Rutgers, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, and Kansas, among several others. 

The 6-3, 305-pound defensive tackle was a tremendous player for Brother Rice as a junior in 2025. In 13 games that he played in, Parks managed to record 44 total tackles, six tackles for loss, and two sacks. His impact is a lot greater than the box score might suggest, possessing an impressive blend of size, power, and movement skills. It is hard to miss big No. 98 on the field for Brother Rice.