Notre Dame football is in heavy pursuit of 5-star offensive lineman Albert Simien. We just received a very important update on that recruitment.
Notre Dame football just put together another tremendous official visitor weekend. That included 18 total 2027 recruits who were in South Bend, but only three were uncommitted targets, at least at the time. Head coach Marcus Freeman is working diligently to get to the finish line with this potentially elite 2027 group.
Perhaps the best player on campus for this visit was 2027 Lake Charles (La.) Sam Houston 5-star offensive lineman Albert Simien . Freeman and Co. are in the middle of a heated battle against the Texas A&M Aggies for Simien. Mike Elko and his team have proven to be formidable foes this recruiting cycle, and an annoying one recently.
Whether Notre Dame or Texas A&M wins out, we won't have to wait long to see the results. The Louisiana native announced that he will be making his commitment this Friday, June 26th. Simien will be selecting between the Fighting Irish, Texas A&M, LSU , Ole Miss , and Nebraska .
As of today, I do think that Simien will end up in South Bend or College Station. There is a lot of optimism on Notre Dame's side coming off his third trip to campus. Here is what I wrote about the Simien recruitment following the official visit.
As I've reported for a couple of months, Notre Dame is in a heated battle with Texas A&M for the 5-star offensive lineman. While some continue to push LSU, I just don't see him landing with the Tigers. Simien comes from a family that didn't grow up with an allegiance to LSU, despite being from Louisiana. That has allowed the Irish and Aggies to make their moves.
Notre Dame isn't quite out of the woods just yet, but I love where they are with Simien after this weekend. At every step throughout the process, Simien has remained a massive priority for the Irish staff. That fact may have even hurt the program with a couple of other offensive line targets that were on the board, but they like Simien that much. As things currently stand, I like Notre Dame to get this one done, but they need to close strong.
The Irish have a lot of momentum on their side, including some pro-Notre Dame family members.
While I really like where Notre Dame is right now, it would be foolish to overlook Texas A&M's presence. This will get heated over the last couple of days heading into that decision. The Fighting Irish need to be ready for a battle until the very end.
Simien is considered at least a four-star and a top-50 overall player by each of the major recruiting platforms. On the 247 Sports Composite ranking, Simien currently ranks as a five-star, the No. 13 overall player, the No. 2 interior offensive lineman, and the No. 2 player from the state of Louisiana for the 2027 recruiting class. This is an elite talent.
Just like his recruiting rankings, Simien's offer list is elite. Some of the top programs that have offered him include the Fighting Irish, Alabama , LSU, Michigan , Florida , Oregon , Oklahoma , Texas A&M, Tennessee , Ole Miss, Auburn, Florida State , Nebraska, TCU, West Virginia , Arkansas , UNC, Baylor, SMU, and Houston, among others.
This article was originally published on A to Z Sports. Read the full story here: Notre Dame football's pursuit of an elite 5-star recruiting target finally has a light at the end of the tunnel
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