One of the top overall recruits to visit Notre Dame for its “grill and chill” cookout recruiting event on Tuesday was Texas native Malik Muhammad, a four-star cornerback prospect in the 2023 class.
Pulling Muhammad out of the South will be tough for Notre Dame. The likes of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Texas and USC have scholarship offers out to him. But after Muhammad’s Notre Dame visit on Tuesday, the Irish are squarely in the mix.
“Man, it was lit,” Muhammad said. “They really do show love. From Chad Bowden to Marcus Freeman all the way to Brian Kelly – it was great. I had a good day doing the camp. The cookout was good, and the campus was nice. The coaches are really cool. They say they love my game.
“I like the history of Notre Dame football. They have the most all-time draft picks, have the most Heisman winners and a lot of championships. They were in the top four last year, and I’m sure they can do it again. They’re independent and have their own television network with NBC. It’s great. I really liked Notre Dame.”
Muhammad participated in a workout with the Irish staff, going through various defensive back drills to show cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens and safeties coach Chris O’Leary his skill set. During that portion of the visit and the rest of it, Muhammad felt valued by the Notre Dame staff.
“It was my first time meeting them, and it was like we’ve had this bond for a long time,” explained Muhammad. “They were laughing a lot with me. They’re young too; it was more of like a friendship.”
It’s still early in Muhammad’s recruitment as he’s just entering his junior year of high school, but there seems to be several attributes about Notre Dame that has the Irish trending up in his recruitment.
“They’re in my top six for sure,” he said. “My dad loved Notre Dame too. We liked the educational standpoint, their standards and the religious standpoint. The players are intelligent and really good at football. They have Kyle Hamilton going in the first round next year. I loved Notre Dame.”
Muhammad received his offer from Notre Dame on March 17.
He is committed to playing in the 2023 Under Armour All-America Game.