Explosive 2026 EDGE Ebenezer Ewetade narrows list to Notre Dame, Georgia and more
On Tuesday, Notre Dame football target Ebenezer Ewetade condensed the blast building in his college football recruitment before it completely exploded.
Ewetade, a 2026 class four-star EDGE rusher from Garner (N.C.) South Garner, announced his top five schools with On3 national recruiting reporter Hayes Fawcett. He is down to Alabama, Florida State, Georgia, NC State and Notre Dame.
The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Ewtade is one of the country’s fastest-rising recruits. According to the On3 Industry Ranking — a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services — he is the No. 187 overall player, No. 21 EDGE nationally and No. 11 recruit in North Carolina in the class.
When On3, one of the four primary recruiting media services, updated its 2026 class rankings on Feb. 24, Ewetade was one of the biggest risers. He skyrocketed to No. 36 overall, putting him four spots away from achieving five-star status when rankings are finalized next year. On3 awards five stars to 32 recruits to emulate 32 first-round NFL Draft picks. It also considers him the nation’s No. 6 EDGE and No. 5 recruit in North Carolina.
Before the four primary recruiting media services overhauled their 2026 class rankings this winter, Ewetade was the On3 Industry Ranking’s No. 425 overall player and No. 37 EDGE in America in 2026.
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His rise on the recruiting boards of Power Four programs has been similar.
Since the end of his junior season, Ewetade has added offers from Ohio State, Florida State, Georgia, Michigan State, NC State, Notre Dame, Alabama, South Carolina, Penn State, Georgia Tech and Auburn. Entering it, the only Power Four schools to offer were Duke, Miami and Purdue. There could have been many more, but Ewetade decided to narrow his recruitment instead.
Ewetade posted 82 tackles, 28 stops for loss, 10 sacks and 5 forced fumbles in 2024.
What schools has Notre Dame recruiting target Ebenezer Ewetade visited?
According to the visit center on Ewetade’s On3 recruiting profile, his first college visit was to Notre Dame. That occurred on Jan. 25, the day the Fighting Irish offered him a scholarship. Besides a possible game-day visit to Wake Forest, no evidence suggests he saw any other schools before his trip to South Bend.
In addition to Notre Dame, he also unofficially visited Georgia on Feb. 1. He has official visits set with both programs: a trip to Athens the weekend of June 6 and South Bend the weekend of June 20. Ewetade will also officially visit Florida State the weekend of May 30 and Alabama the weekend of June 13.
Ewetade is the second Tar Heel State edge rusher to include the Irish in his top schools this week. On Tuesday, Rolesville (N.C.) High four-star Zavion Griffin-Hayes named Notre Dame to his top 11. He is the No. 231 overall player, No. 28 EDGE in the country and No. 14 player in North Carolina in the 2026 class.
