Loghan Thomas, nation's No. 9 edge-rusher, commits to Notre Dame over Georgia, Texas, others

Over the past few weeks, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish emerged as the overwhelming favorites to add Paetow (Texas) four-star edge-rusher Loghan Thomas, the nation's No. 9 edge-rusher and No. 101 overall prospect. 

This week, the 6-foot-3, 210-pound defender trimmed his list to Georgia, LSU, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Texas and announced a commitment date, adding fuel to the fire.

Those predictions came true Wednesday, as Thomas made his commitment known.

He's headed to South Bend.

While the Texas product initially included Notre Dame as a semifinalist without visiting, his late March trip to campus changed his recruitment entirely. 

“I was a little skeptical,” Thomas told On3. “I was up there for a couple of days. So, I was like, ‘I don’t know what I will do for three days on a visit.’ I would do just everything in one day.

“But I actually didn’t even want to leave at the end of that. That stuck out to me — the fact that I was there for three days, and I was still eager to spend time with them.” 

Since then, Notre Dame has been considered a near-lock to beat out the 20-plus schools that had offered Thomas.

But it wasn't until Wednesday that Marcus Freeman and his coaching staff could truly breathe a sigh of relief. 

Over two years as a starter, Thomas has accumulated 84 tackles, 20 tackles-for-loss and 10 sacks. 

Notre Dame's 2024 recruiting class moved up one spot nationally - from No. 4 to No. 3  - with its latest addition, trailing only No. 1 Georgia and No. 2 Michigan.

The headliner of the class so far is the potential future passing connection of Glenbard South (Illinois) wide receiver Cam Williams and Saline (Michigan) quarterback C.J. Carr, both top-50 prospects nationally. 

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