Notre Dame football got a big win on the recruiting trail on Monday, flipping Class of 2025 three-star running back recruit Nolan James Jr. from the Boston College Eagles.
He had originally committed to the Eagles on Dec. 2, 2023.
James headed to South Bend on an official visit this past weekend and witnessed about as dominant of a performance out of Notre Dame football as he could have. Notre Dame crushed the Florida State Seminoles on Saturday with a 52-3 victory.
That was convincing enough. It did not take long after James took the visit that he knew he wanted to play out his college football career with the Fighting Irish.
“I decided to commit because Notre Dame provides one of the best educations in the world, along with the opportunity to play for a national championship,” James said in an interview with Rivals.com. “That’s not the only reason (why I committed). What I really loved was the fact that everyone in the building provided the same mindset and message and that was to be great at everything on and off the field and to embrace the challenges that come with that.”
Nolan James Jr. sounds of about Notre Dame football
In addition to the atmosphere, standards and academic appeal of Notre Dame, James also expressed how well he felt he meshed with the coaching staff he will play under.
“I have really good relationships with Coach Freeman, Coach McCullough and Coach Denbrock,” James continued in the interview with Rivals. “I think they are all super genuine and real. They are who they say they are, and I really appreciate that, along with the rest of the staff.”
The DePaul Catholic High School (Wayne, N.J.) is listed by the 247 Sports Composite as an athlete rather than a pure tailback, though that is the position he is set to play for Notre Dame based on the way things look right now. Still, he's plenty versatile, and the 5-foot-11, 200-pounder appears poised for a bright future with one of college football's premier programs.
The database has him as the No. 76 overall athlete in the nation for his class, the No. 28 overall prospect in the state of New Jersey and No. 986 overall prospect in the nation for his respective recruiting cycle.