Notre Dame football attempting to steal a borderline Top-100 athlete out of the backyard of hated Fighting Irish rival
From a recruiting and development perspective, what Notre Dame secondary coach Mike Mickens has done at the cornerback position over the years is nothing short of remarkable. While tutoring the likes of Benjamin Morrison, Cam Hart, Leonard Moore, and Christian Gray, he has completely changed the fortune for the Fighting Irish on the back end, […]
From a recruiting and development perspective, what Notre Dame secondary coach Mike Mickens has done at the cornerback position over the years is nothing short of remarkable. While tutoring the likes of Benjamin Morrison, Cam Hart, Leonard Moore, and Christian Gray, he has completely changed the fortune for the Fighting Irish on the back end, especially compared to where they were when Coach Mickens came to South Bend.
With back-to-back outstanding recruiting classes in 2025 and 2026, the Notre Dame staff has already turned the page toward the 2027 class. It’ll be hard to outdo the secondary recruiting for those classes, but they are going to certainly try. One early name to know Cincinnati (Ohio) Anderson cornerback Ace Alston.
When you hear Cincinnati, prominent schools around that program have typically been a bit of a pipeline to the Ohio State Buckeyes. With Coach Mickens having had spent a ton of time in the city, and the ties he has, he is not shied away from making a strong push for Alston. According to Greg Smith of the Rivals network, Notre Dame is one of the early schools to know for Alston. He even has plans to visit campus this offseason.
This is not going to be an easy recruitment for the Irish. Even outside of the Buckeyes, a long list of impressive programs are making their push. The early interest, however, is important.
Alston is extremely highly thought of from a recruiting rankings perspective. On the 247Sports Composite ranking, Alston currently ranks as the No. 124 overall player, No. 13 cornerback, and No. 2 player in the state of Ohio for the 2027 recruiting class. He is a consensus four-star player on each of the major platforms.
It should be much of a surprise that a long list of impressive programs have already been pursuing Alston. Some of his top offers so far include the Fighting Irish, Ohio State, Oregon, Michigan, Nebraska, Tennessee, Texas A&M, USC, UCLA, Auburn, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Boston College, Louisville, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech, Cincinnati, Duke, and Purdue among others.
As a sophomore, Alston turned in an exceptional season for Anderson. The 5-11, 170-pound cover man ended the year with 46 total tackles, three interceptions, 10 pass breakups, and two tackles for loss.
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Could this be a top Notre Dame target?
