Notre Dame Remains High On List For 2023 WR Ronan Hanafin

Ronan Hanafin‍ knew plenty about Notre Dame before he was even a college prospect. The 2023 Massachusetts wide receiver has learned even more since being offered a scholarship by the Irish last fall.

But he really got schooled during this past weekend’s official visit to South Bend.

“I had an awesome time,” Hanafin told Irish Sports Daily. “It was really fun getting out there again.

“For the official, we dove a lot deeper on everything, the academic piece, the social piece, who you're going to be around, where you're going to be living, the dorm situation, all of that stuff. I think it's just very helpful to see what you're going to be doing on a day-to-day basis.”

Hanafin got to learn just how powerful a Notre Dame education can be.

“How it prepares you for life after football, having that Notre Dame degree is very powerful and the connections that can be built really help coming out of there,” he said.

The Buckingham Browne & Nichols star made the trip for the East Coast with his good friend and current Irish commit Preston Zinter, but Hanafin had the chance to get to know several other commits better over the weekend as well.

“Preston and I were together for a lot of the weekend,” he said. “I hung out a lot with Keon (Keeley), he's a really good kid and obviously, a really good player. I could see us becoming great friends. Braylon James is another one, Adon (Shuler) and a couple other guys that I was hanging out with and developed some good friendships.”

As for the coaching staff, Hanafin said he spent plenty of time with wide receivers coach Chansi Stuckey, offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, Director of Recruiting Chad Bowden and head coach Marcus Freeman.

“It was really good to get time with all of them,” he said. “They made it clear they really want me there. It's great to be able to talk with them. We did a film session and he broke down my film and how they could use me in their offense. They related my film to theirs.”

Stuckey specifically made a tremendous impression.

“He is an awesome guy,” Hanafin said of Stuckey. “We already have that really good connection. He's a really great guy. He has a really great family. I just met his wife this weekend, she's awesome. I hung out with his son a lot. He's awesome. They're good people and he's a great coach, obviously.”

Hanafin also took an official visit to Clemson earlier in the month and travels to Alabama for an official this weekend.

No doubt the Irish remain one of the top contenders.

“They're definitely high on the list,” he said. “They're one of my favorite schools and I could see myself there. I've always been a fan of Notre Dame since I was a kid.”