Drayk Bowen’s latest visit to Notre Dame was an important one
While it’s certainly possible we could be missing a visit to make it double-digits, Drayk Bowen’s On3 profile lists him as taking nine total Notre Dame visits since last June when he took his first. He’s no stranger to Notre Dame, but there were a lot of “firsts” on his visit Saturday.
The Merrillville (Ind.) Andrean four-star class of 2023 linebacker and Notre Dame commit was only in South Bend for a couple hours as he had a baseball game that morning. But it was an important visit.
It was the first time that Bowen got to meet Tampa (Fla.) Berkeley Prep’s Keon Keeley, a Notre Dame pledge who ranks as a five-star EDGE prospect in the 2023 cycle.
“We were just hanging out with everybody,” Bowen said. “We got to talk to Coach [Al] Golden, Coach [Marcus] Freeman and got to meet Keon, Troy Reader and Tre Reader. That was pretty fun; we got to go out and eat with them. We did a photoshoot and that was really it.”
Keeley made the trip to South Bend with the Reader family, who have quite the affinity for Notre Dame. Troy is committed to play for the Irish baseball team for the 2023 class, while Tre is set to walk on the football team for this fall.
Bowen will get to play at Notre Dame with all of them. While Bowen is known for his talents on the football field, he’s quite the baseball player too and will play for Link Jarrett’s squad alongside the younger Reader.
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“It was pretty fun; it was my first time meeting all of them,” Bowen added. “Keon and I are very similar; we’re both goofballs when you get to know us. We had a good time talking and laughing.”
It was also Bowen’s first time getting to meet new defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Al Golden. Bowen raved about the veteran coach.
“I really like him,” he said. “He’s talked with us about everything. He’s really building that relationship just like Coach Freeman did when they first started talking to me.”
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“In talking to Coach Freeman (Saturday), he said they’re learning so much football from how he coaches and what he can teach. When it’s time to go, he’s very professional about it, but when it’s time to relax and chill, he’s doing just that. I really like him.”
Notre Dame has nine commitments in the 2023 class, and with the calendar about to heat up with key April visits and summer official visits around the corner, the number of Irish pledges will likely double by the end of June.
And Bowen has become the face and vocal leader of the class. He’s often playing video games and talking with other Notre Dame recruits.
“I try to get to know everyone who likes Notre Dame,” Bowen said. “I try to build that relationship with the other recruits. And if it works out for Notre Dame, then great. If not, then I still have that relationship.”
Bowen ranks as the nation’s No. 61 player and No. 4 linebacker according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.
Bowen has an On3 NIL Valuation of $31,000 with his 20,000+ social media following. The On3 NIL Valuation is an index that looks to set the standard market value for both high school and college-level athletes. The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.
