Peyton Bowen

Notre Dame fought for Peyton Bowen and they fought hard, but it's safe to say NIL became a factor in the end as some in his camp pushed that above everything else. As we tried to tell folks for the last week, Bowen had two finalists: Notre Dame and Oregon, which were the only hats on the table during his announcement on Wednesday. The last two weeks were the only time folks around Bowen felt he started to waver in his commitment to Notre Dame. In fact, a week ago, it seemed extremely unlikely Bowen would sign with Notre Dame as he had all but decommitted from the Irish. And yes, Notre Dame wasn't sure Freeman and company were even going to get an in-home visit last Thursday.Oregon had left the Bowen house and Oklahoma had wrapped up a call when Bowen got on the phone with Chris O'Leary before talking to Marcus Freeman. Whatever was said proved to be significant as Freeman, O'Leary, Al Golden, Mike Mickens and Chansi Stuckey were in the Bowen home the next night. As reported, the mood was light and Bowen ended up playing video games with the assistants as Freeman spoke to his parents. Friday proved to be an important day in this recruitment as Bowen had a big decision to make. Oklahoma had set up an in-home visit for Saturday while Oregon wanted him to take an official visit for the weekend. Bowen passed on the trip to Eugene and told head coach Dan Lanning he wasn't going to make it, which set up a huge in-home for Oklahoma on Saturday evening. It was a long in-home visit as the Sooners staff thought they got the last crack at Bowen. But - Notre Dame got the last in-home on Sunday evening. Those who follow recruiting might remember 2023 Ohio State commit Luke Montgomery posting an in-home visit photo with Ryan Day during the dead period at the end of November before the conference championships. Notre Dame utilized the same rule, which meant Freeman and his staff could get into the home once again as Bowen was a commit and had been admitted, approved and his deposit was received by the university. We're told it was a three-hour visit and it was kept light despite the stressful time. Bowen played video games with the staff while Freeman was able to communicate the need for the elite safety, but also how he would be cared for in South Bend. It was over the weekend Bowen was able to process and slow things down as Oregon and Oklahoma came hard and quick at him with all-out pushes over the last week. On Tuesday morning, the Bowen family had essentially a final meeting where it seemed like Notre Dame would be the choice, but clearly something happened in the last 12-16 hours that sold him on heading to Oregon. There wasn't anything more Notre Dame could do here. They recruited him harder and longer than every school and laid out his options for NIL once he arrived at Notre Dame, but it simply wasn't enough for some in his family.