Notre Dame football is hoping for a massive recruiting win on Monday afternoon when 2028 Bolingbrook (Ill.) High School 5-star EDGE Darieon Prescott announces his college decision live on the Pat McAfee Show. The exact time of that commitment hasn’t been fully disclosed just yet.

The 6-6, 220-pound pass rusher will choose between the Fighting Irish, Texas A&M, and Oregon. Barring something unforeseen, Notre Dame is expected to come out on top of this recruitment. Head coach Marcus Freeman and defensive line coach Charlie Partridge have made Prescott a huge priority for a very long time, and the expectation is that their persistence pays off.

Darieon Prescott’s recruiting background

Prescott is considered a five-star recruit on the 247 Sports Composite ranking, where he checks in as the No. 18 overall player, the No. 5 EDGE, and the No. 1 player from the state of Illinois for the 2028 recruiting class. On the individual 247 Sports ranking, he comes in even higher as the No. 7 overall player in the class.

The offer list for Prescott is staggering. Beyond his three finalists, he holds offers from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Penn State, USC, Nebraska, Arizona State, Auburn, Duke, Florida State, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas State, Kentucky, Louisville, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Purdue, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, Washington, and Wisconsin, among several others.

Why Notre Dame is the expected pick

When you pop on the film of Prescott, it’s easy to see why so many top programs have valued him at such a high level. The pass rusher is now up into the 255-pound range and boasts an unbelievable combination of size, length, explosiveness, and closing speed.

Freeman and Partridge have shown Prescott every part of the recruiting process and every part of their pitch for why Notre Dame is the best fit. As a player, the sell is straightforward. Partridge and the defensive staff have been recruiting the defensive line at an all-time level during the 2027 class, and they want to kick off the 2028 cycle the right way with the Illinois native.

Notre Dame is also an easy sell when it comes to the academic piece, which the Prescott family takes very seriously. The university is very well known to him, his family, and the people around him, creating a natural connection that programs like Oregon and Texas A&M have to work harder to replicate.

The competition is real

That said, Oregon and Texas A&M are not programs to take lightly. Each has experienced major recruiting success over the last couple of years, each has significant financial resources and institutional support, and each is led by dynamic recruiters at head coach.

As we’ve talked about here at A to Z Sports in the past, anytime Notre Dame has a big-time recruit in their perceived backyard, they need to be able to close. Illinois is Fighting Irish territory, and losing a 5-star from the state would sting.

Despite the legitimate competition, Notre Dame is expected to win out for Prescott on Monday afternoon. We shall see how everything concludes, but the Fighting Irish appear to be firmly in the driver’s seat for one of the premier defensive prospects in the 2028 recruiting class.