Visitor Preview: Four-star QB Bear Bachmeier headlines Notre Dame recruiting weekend

Notre Dame will likely have its biggest recruiting weekend of the year when Ohio State comes to town Sept. 23. The weekend before was never expected to be quite as important as that.

However, with a key quarterback target, several commits and over a dozen class of 2026 prospects of note, the Irish staff has put in quite the strong recruiting weekend for their matchup against Central Michigan that kicks off at 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday.

Below is a preview of the prospects expected in South Bend.

BEAR ON CAMPUS

Murrieta (Calif.) Valley’s Bear Bachmeier, the No. 111 overall recruit and No. 9 quarterback according to the 2025 On3 Industry Ranking, led his team to a victory on Thursday night and heads out to South Bend Friday for the weekend.

The Fighting Irish offered Bachmeier over the summer. The staff wanted to extend the scholarship in person, but Bachmeier was unable to make it to campus at the end of July for the cookout recruiting event, so quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli and Co. decided to go ahead and pull the trigger with the offer. Bachmeier eyed the Central Michigan weekend the moment he got the offer to make it out to campus. And that is coming to fruition.

Bachmeier’s brother, Tiger, is a freshman receiver at Stanford. The four-star signal-caller, Bear, visited Stanford over the summer and has Oregon in pursuit of him. Alabama and a few others have offered as well. But it’s Notre Dame that is considered the leader for Bachmeier. I logged a prediction earlier this week for him to eventually pick the Fighting Irish.

The big question is the following: Is Bachmeier going to give the staff a commitment this weekend? It seems very possible, but it also may be too soon for him. Regardless, the Irish look good in this recruitment, and this weekend will be key in their efforts to land him.

SEVEN NOTRE DAME COMMITS DUE IN

The Irish will have some of their regulars in the Midwest on campus Saturday afternoon, including Glen Ellyn (Ill.) Glenbard South receiver Cam Williams. By our count, Williams will be making his 14th visit in total to campus. Williams is Notre Dame’s highest-ranked player in the 2024 class, listed as the No. 37 overall prospect and No. 10 wideout per the 2024 On3 Industry Ranking.

Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller cornerback Karson Hobbs, Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edward EDGE Loghan Thomas and West Chester (Ohio) Lakota West safety Taebron Bennie-Powell will make their way to campus from the state of Ohio. This will be Thomas’ first time watching a Notre Dame game in South Bend.

Hoosier State talents and Irish commits Styles Prescod of Fishers (Ind.) Hamilton Southeastern and Tae Johnson of Fort Wayne (Ind.) North Side RSVP’d for the game. Prescod is expected to play offensive tackle for the Irish, while Johnson is likely to end up at safety.

Hannibal (Mo.) High running back Aneyas Williams has been a frequent visitor, despite being several hours away by car. By our count, this will be his 11th Notre Dame visit.

MORE NAMES TO KNOW

Bachmeier and the Irish commits listed above are the only prospects visiting this weekend who are currently armed with an offer from Notre Dame. But there’s a long list of underclassmen prospects with other division one offers on the visitors list. Several of them could certainly end up with the Irish on their list as well.

There’s a trio of class of 2025 players of note, including Massillon (Ohio) Washington tight end Nolan Davenport, who has Pittsburgh, Kentucky, Cincinnati and others after him. Indianapolis Cathedral athlete Devaughn Slaughter (offer from Miami Ohio), Muncie (Ind.) Delta EDGE Landon Brooks (offer from Toledo) and Zionsville (Ind.) High Max Phenicie (offers from Ole Miss and Maryland) are expected, too.

Moving to the class of 2026 class, the following quarterback prospects (with their notable offers listed in parentheses), are expected to visit: San Diego St. Francis’ Brady Palmer (Colorado State, Washington State, Arizona), Union (Ky.) Cooper’s Cam O’Hara (Kentucky, Cincinnati), Bolingbrook (Ill.) High’s Jonas Williams (Purdue, Michigan, Louisville, others) and Platte County (Mo.) High’s Rocco Marriott (UNLV).

And here are the rest of the notable 2026 visitors: Portage (Mich.) Northern offensive tackle Gregory Patrick (Minnesota, Oklahoma, Michigan State, others), Freeland (Mich.) High tight end Tristan Comer (Central Michigan), Lexington (Ky.) Frederick Douglass wide receiver Elijah Ward (Louisville), Bowling Green (Ky.) High wide receiver Trevy Barber (Miami Ohio), Platte City (Mo.) Platte County tight end Jack Utz (Missouri, Iowa State, others), Matawan (N.J.) Regional wide receiver Welman Crooms (Syracuse, Boston College, Pittsburgh, others), Chicago Marist offensive tackle Rico Schrieber (Purdue, Nebraska, Boston College, others), Akron (Ohio) Copley offensive tackle Lucas Tielsch (Toledo, Miami Ohio), Houston Fort Bend Marshall linebacker Noriel Dominguez (Texas Tech, Arizona State, Oregon), Painesville (Ohio) Harvey athlete Shahn Alston (Akron, Toledo, West Virginia, others) and Lansing (Mich.) Haslett running back Kory Amachree (Navy, Ball State, Bowling Green, others).

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