2026 CB Nick Hankins Talks Notre Dame Junior Day

Nick Hankins‍ made the trip down to South Bend for Notre Dame’s Junior Day on Saturday and the 2026 Illinois cornerback was impressed with what he saw.

“Everything was good,” Hankins told ISD afterward. “I met the DB coach. I met Coach (Marcus) Freeman and all the other staff gave me great energy as well.”

The Belleville West High School standout enjoyed his meeting with Irish defensive backs coach Mike Mickens.

“He just showed me a lot of their schemes, a lot of things that they do with the DBs, corners and safeties,” said Hankins.

“I liked that they play a lot of Man coverage. They press a lot and that's something I like to do as well.”

His chat with Freeman wasn’t as long, but Hankins said, “He was real positive. He had a lot of great energy.”

The 6-foot-1, 185-pounder also enjoyed the campus setup.

“I like the campus,” he said. “I like that everything is real close to each other.”

He was also impressed with the national presence the Irish athletics have across different conferences.

“The hockey team is in the Big Ten,” he said. “The football team is Independent and the basketball team is in the ACC.”

The academic presentation also stuck out.

“I liked it,” said Hankins. “It showed me a lot about the academics. They are a big school. A lot of people don't get into the school and they've got the number one graduation rate in the country.”

Hankins has been on fire when it comes to offers lately, adding Tennessee, Boston College, Stanford, Iowa, Vanderbilt, Purdue and Iowa State just this month to a list that already included schools like Illinois, Michigan State, Missouri, Northwestern and Wisconsin among others.

He didn’t get offered at the Junior Day, but is expecting the Irish to stop by his school on Monday. An offer at any point would “mean a lot.”

“I love it,” Hankins said of Notre Dame. “I love the coaching staff. I love everybody that I met today. I went to a hockey game for the first time and I loved the hockey game. I just love everything about Notre Dame.

“If you've never seen a hockey game, you got to go to one.”

He’s scheduled to visit Vanderbilt next weekend and could hit up Purdue after that, but that isn’t locked in just yet. 

There’s a good chance Hankins will return to South Bend this spring. 

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