Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua breaks down Fighting Irish’s transfer portal stance
During the 2024 recruiting class, the Colorado Buffaloes signed just 13 high school prospects and added a whopping 43 players through the transfer portal according to the On3 database. This is something that Notre Dame fans should never expect to happen with the Fighting Irish. Not even close.
In that same cycle, Notre Dame added 23 high school recruits and 8 scholarship players from the portal. It took six from the portal the year before (excluding ex-Virginia Tech receiver Kaleb Smith who never suited up for the Irish).
Notre Dame will use the portal but plans to “major in high school students,” as Fighting Irish Director of Athletics Pete Bevacqua explained during a press conference Tuesday.
“That’s the key for our football team, and that extends to all of our programs, I think [men’s basketball coach] Micah Shrewsberry and [women’s basketball coach] Niele Ivy would say the same thing,” said Bevacqua.
“But you have to be opportunistic. You can’t turn a blind eye to the transfer market. But when Notre Dame is engaged with — let’s use football as the example — a potential transfer, there’s already been a process.”
Bevacqua explained that things can move fast in portal recruiting, potentially as quickly as a single day. These players don’t have much time to find a home; they need to get somewhere quickly before the semester starts, plus you don’t want to lose out on limited spots a school has for portal players.
He noted that Micki Kidder, who works as Notre Dame’s Vice President for Undergraduate Enrollment, and her team vet the academic achievements and position of the student-athlete.
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“Many conversations have occurred to say, ‘Okay, this particular student athlete can be admitted into Notre Dame and can join the football program.’”
Bevacqua singled out Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard and wide receiver Beaux Collins as a couple transfers with one year of eligibility left who hit the ground running when the joined the team earlier this year.
“[They’re] people who’ve come into the program and have just fit in, not just on the football field, but with Notre Dame,” he said. “Understanding what the academic rigors are, the academic requirements, understanding the culture of the team that Coach [Marcus] Freeman has put together, and that’s so very important to him.
“So, we’re very thorough in that process. Coach Freeman, [football deputy athletics director] Ron Powlus and [general manager] Chad Bowden — the effort they put in evaluating student athlete by student athlete, what program he’s coming from, what school he’s coming from, what’s his major, where is he in terms of credits earned, what were the type of classes — you have to produce the syllabi for every class you’ve taken over the course of your college career.
“But be opportunistic. Get the right people here that can fit into Notre Dame and make us better.”
