Notre Dame football is “setting the pace” for a top target from a historically unusual recruiting area for the Fighting Irish
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Notre Dame football has developed the offensive line position as well as any program in the country historically. The Fighting Irish have always recruited at a high level up front, attracting some of the top talent in the country. They are also a program who has shown the creativity to project high school tight ends to college offensive tackles, with Joe Alt being the most recent success story.
In the 2027 recruiting class, it appears that Notre Dame is once again targeting that type of projection. This time it is with Kindred (ND) High School athlete Luke Starcevic, who is one of the more unique players in the entire recruiting class overall. Starcevic was offered by the Irish recently, and made the trip to South Bend for their game against Syracuse this past weekend.
Most schools have been targeting Starcevic on the defensive side of the football, but Notre Dame prefers him on the offensive line.
Following that trip, it appears that Notre Dame is “setting the pace” for Starcevic according to Rivals vice president of recruiting Steve Wiltfong. The North Dakota native had a lot of great things to say about the Irish leaving the visit. Here is what he had to say to Wiltfong.
”The visit today was great, excited to get back,” Starcevic told Wiltfong. ”They definitely impressed me today and are a school I am very high on. The way they do things and all the people there make it great… I’m very impressed with the program and people there in general.”
While there isn’t a firm commitment plan in place right now, things continue to trend in a great direction with Notre Dame. If head coach Marcus Freeman and the Irish are able to land Starcevic, this would be the rare pickup from the state of North Dakota. The program has only had three players from the state in their history, Lee Matthews, Steve Cichy, and Jerry Bodine, and none since 1989.
Luke Starcevic’s recruiting background
Starcevic is considered to be a four-star player by each of the major recruiting platforms. On the 247 Sports Composite ranking, Starcevic currently ranks as the No. 160 overall player, the No. 18 defensive line, and the No. 2 player from the state of North Dakota for the 2027 recruiting class. That isn’t a state that you think of when discussing top college talent, but Starcevic is a bit of an outlier.
Despite Starcevic coming from an unusual background, a long list of impressive programs have been pursuing him. Some of his top offers include the Fighting Irish, Michigan, Oklahoma, Auburn, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Illinois, Iowa State, Michigan State, Minnesota, Washington, Vanderbilt, Kansas, UCF, and Stanford, among others.
The 6-5, 250-pound athlete doubles as a star defensive lineman and tight end for Kindred. As a junior, he has recorded 48 total tackles and 6.5 sacks. That’s coming off of a sophomore season where he managed to collect 61 total tackles, 26.5 tackles for loss, and 11 sacks.
While playing either the defensive or offensive line is in the future for Starcevic, he is a weapon at tight end on the high school level. As a junior, he has hauled in 29 receptions for 544 yards and five touchdowns. That is an average of 18.7 yards per reception, an insane average for a player who might make his living as a blindside protector on the college level.
This story was originally reported by A to Z Sports on Nov 23, 2025, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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