Five thoughts on four-star RB Justin Thurman’s Notre Dame commitment
Notre Dame’s “grill & chill” recruiting event has produced its first commitment. 2025 four-star running back Justin Thurman announced his pledge in favor of the Fighting Irish.
The 6-foot, 180-pound Thurman committed to Notre Dame after paying unofficial college recruiting visits to South Bend for the program’s first evaluation camp in mid-June and last Sunday’s cookout. He is the third commit in the 2025 recruiting cycle, joining defensive lineman Davion Dixon and tight end Nate Roberts.
The On3 Industry Ranking — a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services — considers Thurman the No. 259 overall player and No. 24 running back in the country, and the No. 37 prospect in Florida. He has an 89.91 rating.
In On3’s own rankings, he’s the No. 27 running back nationally and the No. 45 prospect in Florida. On3 currently rates him as a three-star recruit (89). His On3 NIL Valuation annual value is $31,000.
Here are five thoughts on Thurman’s Notre Dame commitment.
1. Notre Dame was seemingly a no-brainer choice for the Thurmans.
A private school, Catholic education is very important to the family, which made the Irish a strong contender when running backs coach Deland McCullough offered him a scholarship on May 25.
Thurman is originally from St. Louis and was a teammate of current Notre Dame freshman cornerback Christian Gray at DeSmet Jesuit. When the Thurmans moved to the Sunshine State, they settled on Tampa Jesuit so that he could continue his Catholic Jesuit school education.
Thurman is the type of recruit that should not cause concern if McCullough ventures back to the professional ranks before Thurman signs. He chose the Irish because of the bigger picture. And McCullough is just one piece of the puzzle.
2. Although Thurman has his fair share of Power Five offers from Southern schools, his Midwestern roots also favored Notre Dame.
In addition to playing alongside Gray, Thurman also worked out with current Irish freshman running back Jeremiyah Love. Love attended St. Louis Christian Brothers College High.
Thurman chose Notre Dame over offers from Auburn, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kansas State, Louisville, North Carolina State, Purdue, Rutgers, Tennessee, UCF and Vanderbilt. He visited Kansas (five times) and Kansas State (three) more than Notre Dame.
3. Since McCullough joined the program, Notre Dame has signed running backs with similar builds to players currently or formerly on the roster.
In the 2024 recruiting cycle, the Irish found their next Kyren Williams (Aneyas Williams, 5-9½, 200 pounds) and Audeic Estimé (Kedren Young, 5-11, 225 pounds). The 5-9, 194-pound Kyren is already in the NFL with the Los Angles Rams. And the 5-11½, 233-pound Estimé should be NFL bound after this season.
A torn Achilles might delay Jadarian Price’s NFL timeline, but he can declare for the NFL Draft after next football season. And Thurman (6-0, 180) has a comparable build to the 5-10⅜, 206-pound Price. Coming out of Denison (Texas) High, On3 charted Price at 5-11, 180 pounds.
4. Every year on March 17, Notre Dame’s Pot of Gold Day recruiting event occurs. On St. Patrick’s Day, the Irish extend new scholarships to about 65 current high school sophomores. While Thurman’s offer didn’t come until about two months later, this was a great evaluation by the staff.
Thurman had an under-the-radar sophomore season because he played second fiddle to three-star running back Joquez Smith, who signed with Temple. In 14 games in 2022, Smith had 235 carries for 1,410 yards and 19 touchdowns. He averaged about 16 carries per game.
When Thurman had his number called, he performed well with 19 carries for 169 yards (8.9 yards per carry) and 2 touchdowns. Now that he’s the primary ball carrier in 2023, look for him to put up outstanding numbers as a junior.
Thurman is also a great track athlete. In the spring, he ran a personal best 10.84-second 100-meter dash. When he camped at Notre Dame last month, he also excelled at the broad jump and his 40-yard dash was in the 4.4-second range.
5. Though Thurman has already taken a spot in Notre Dame’s 2025 class, look for the Irish to target another running back.
With the current targets on the board, Bryant (Ark.) High’s Daniel Anderson looks to be the most realistic one. Despite the good vibes going into Thurman’s visit, Notre Dame also hosted Anderson for its “grill & chill” event.
The 5-11, 190-pound Anderson has no On3 or On3 Industry Ranking rating. However, one recruiting service considers him a four-star recruit, the No. 159 overall player and No. 15 running back in the nation, and the No. 2 prospect in Arkansas.
Other Irish 2025 running back offerees, Osumane Kromah, Jordon Davison, Bo Jackson, Waltez Clark, Tory Blaylock and James Simon have yet to visit campus.
Notre Dame 2025 recruiting class info
Here is Notre Dame’s sorted by commitment date:
April 21, 2023 — Three-star DL Davion Dixon, Miami Belen Jesuit Prep
June 17, 2023 — Four-star TE Nate Roberts, Washington (Okla.) High
Aug. 1, 2023 — Four-star RB Justin Thurman, Tampa (Fla.) Jesuit
Here are Notre Dame’s 2024 commits by position:
1 — Running back
1 — Tight end
1 — Defensive line
Here is a breakdown of the Irish commits by state:
2 — Florida
1 — Oklahoma
The post Five thoughts on four-star RB Justin Thurman’s Notre Dame commitment appeared first on On3.
