Apr 12, 2025; Notre Dame, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman waits to run onto the field during the Blue-Gold game at Notre Dame Stadium. Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

Why Javian Osborne Picked Notre Dame Over Michigan: In His Own Words

Originally posted on Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI
By Nick Shepkowski | Last updated May 5, 2025 1:09 PM ET

Notre Dame recruiting picked up May just like it left off April in gaining two commitments since Friday. Linebacker Jakobe Clapper of Cincinnati announced his commitment on Friday while running back Javian Osborne of Texas announced his decision a day later. Both players are ranked as four-star talents according to the 247Sports composite rankings.

Why did they end up at Notre Dame though?

It's easy to look at last season's success and see that talented players want to join a team that can perform on the big stage but for recruits it takes more than just that to get them to come play for you. Osborne was asked about what made Notre Dame special by longtime recruiting guru Tom Lemming and shared that it was the people that he liked most about the university.

Javian Osborne gives his reasons for committing to Notre Dame. The 4*+ RB is one of the more explosive offensive players in the nation. pic.twitter.com/Injlt96O5q
— Tom Lemming (@LemmingReport) May 3, 2025

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Takeaways:

Osborne's final two schools came down to Notre Dame and Michigan with the Irish earning the highly coveted commitment. It's still fairly early in the recruiting cycle as the early signing period is still more than six months away, but a indisputable trend in this cycle has been Notre Dame beating out Michigan for multiple prospects.

It's not to say Michigan doesn't offer a good amount of the same, but the relationships Osborne speaks of would suggest that Notre Dame's recent rise in recruiting cycle shouldn't be slowing down anytime soon.

This article first appeared on Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: