Notre Dame football’s success in the 2028 class hasn’t really kicked off, but it could any minute now. If and when the commits start piling up, it looks like one top offensive tackle could be among the first.Kajus Muralis has had plenty of nice things to say about his offer from the Fighting Irish, including a quote that shows he’s been a fan since way back in the day.
The3-star offensive tackle recently spoke to Rivals’ Kyle Kelly about how excited he was to get an offer from Marcus Freeman and Co. Among his comments was that he grew up rooting for the Irish. His younger self could hardly have understood what was happening and would have been over the moon to have ND come calling.
“Back then, if you asked me if I could choose a school,” Muralis told the Rivals’ analyst. “That school would be Notre Dame. So, it’s shocking to me that I actually got an offer from there.”
Following an impressive showing at the Irish’s second evaluation camp, Muralis earned an opportunity to play for Notre Dame. The offer meant that the childhood dream is now a reality. While there are other schools obviously looking to land him, it’s hard to imagine anyone will immediately be able to drive a wedge between the player and the Irish.
Kajus Muralis says Notre Dame football was his childhood dream school
The 6-foot-7, 255-pound 3-star 2028 offensive tackle from Waubonsie Valley High School (Aurora, IL) fits into what has been a renewed push to really establish a beachhead in Illinois. The Golden Domers have had totravel far beyond neighboring states in the last few years to assemble some of the best classes in the country. However, now that Freeman and his staff have had success elsewhere, they’re trying to lock down border states.
Muralis’s offer from Notre Dame also shows that his profile is growing. He’s ranked as the No. 654 player in the 2028 class, the No. 50 player at his offensive tackle position and the No. 18 player in the state of Illinois he hasn’t yet gotten a ranking from 247Sports
In addition to the Fighting Irish, Muralis has offers from Akron, Florida Atlantic, Illinois, Oklahoma State, Purdue, Toledo, UCLA and Wisconsin. It’s likely that once the fall and winter begin and he enters his junior season, he’ll get plenty more offers.
The offensive tackle is a very good test case for Notre Dame in Illinois. The real success in that state has been iffy at best, considering other schools such as Illinois and Nebraska have already established their own pipelines. Still, under Freeman, the program has had more success recruiting than it ever did under Brian Kelly. One big key to proving that is landing a kid who spent his entire childhood wanting to play in South Bend. That kind of player slipping away might be a sign that there’s still work to do.
