Getting to know 2025 LB Antoine Deslauriers, who is officially visiting Notre Dame this summer

There are typically a handful of top Canadian prospects who come to the United States to play college football, and Notre Dame is after one of them for the 2025 cycle.

Meet Antoine Deslauriers, who is from Quebec and grew up speaking French. He started playing football at 10 years old and is the first from his family to give playing it a shot.

“It was a sport I wanted to try,” Deslauriers told Blue & Gold.

And good thing he did. The class of 2025 linebacker played two years of high school football in Canada and had a strong second season, which attracted Rabun Gap (Ga.) Nacoochee School head coach Derek White. Rabun Gap regularly has players from different countries, especially from Canada.

White made a trip up to Canada last year and visited with Deslauriers, and then soon afterwards, Deslauriers returned the favor by making it down to Georgia with his mother to visit Rabun Gap.

“I had other prep schools I could’ve went to, but there was something special about Rabun Gap and Coach White,” Deslauriers said. “He sold the place to my mom and me.”

Deslauriers got to Rabun Gap at the end of last summer, and a few months before he enrolled, he added his first collegiate scholarship offer, coming from Ole Miss.

“Based on my highlights from up in Canada, Ole Miss made me an offer,” said Deslauriers. “Coach White was promoting even before I came to the school. That’s where everything kicked off.”

Florida State, Miami, Maryland, Auburn, Notre Dame, Oklahoma are just a few of the schools on Deslauriers’ offer list. He had an impressive junior campaign, posting 72 stops (18 for loss), 2 sacks, 4 quarterback hurries, 3 interceptions and 2 forced fumbles across 14 games.

How fast his recruitment took off and how big-time of a prospect he became took him by surprise.

“Definitely. I didn’t even know I could get offers yet,” Deslauriers explained. “Not many people in Canada get the opportunity to get offers like this. I didn’t really know what to expect; we don’t play the same kind of football back home. It took some adjustment, because they talk about American football being such a big thing, and I was nervous at first. But it was all worth it.”

Notre Dame a top contender for Deslauriers

Fighting Irish linebackers coach Max Bullough made a trip to Rabun Gap Jan. 25 to see Deslauriers in person, and Notre Dame extended the offer to him that day. But that wasn’t when the Irish started expressing interest in him.

“I talked with some coaches in the past — Coach [Al] Golden and Coach Max,” Deslauriers explained. “We had all got on a call last year, and they were saying how they liked me as a player. But I wasn’t even in the states, so they didn’t know what they were getting themselves into yet. They didn’t make me offer at that point.

“We kept on talking here and there. I sent my [junior year] highlight tape directly to Coach Max because we had a little bit of a relationship already. And he came back saying that he really liked my tape and that he was going to come to Rabun Gap and see me in person.

“Notre Dame isn’t a school that everyone gets an offer from. I feel privileged to have that offer.”

Deslauriers is fired up to have the Fighting Irish offer and is aware that Notre Dame has a strong history — especially recently — with recruiting Canadian players. The Irish have two defensive lineman from Canada on its roster in Devan Houstan and Armel Mukam.

“It was really special,” Deslauriers said about Notre Dame offering him. “We talked a lot — about football, who I am, who he is and how unique Notre Dame is. We had a nice conversation, and I really enjoyed it.”

Deslauriers is scheduled to officially visit Notre Dame the weekend of June 8.

“It’s early in my process,” he noted. “Everything is new. I went to a couple games during the season, and I’m looking forward to taking more trips and eventually official visits.”

On3 ranks Deslauriers as a three-star prospect and No. 80 linebacker nationally.