Notre Dame added one more defensive line prospect to its 2026 recruiting board last week in the form of Pennsylvania’s Tavian Branch.
“Coach Al Washington called me and told me I was offered,” Branch told Irish Sports Daily.
The 6-foot-5, 300-pound defensive tackle has dozens of other offers, including offers from schools like Penn State, Rutgers, Alabama, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Florida, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Kentucky, Maryland, Boston College and Duke among several others.
He’s blown up a bit this month with the Notre Dame, Florida and Alabama offers all coming within the last couple of weeks.
Still, the offer from the Irish caught his attention.
“It was an amazing feeling getting an offer from Notre Dame,” he said.
He’d been in touch with Washington and the Irish staff a bit before the offer.
“I have pretty good contact with a lot of their defensive coaches,” Branch said.
And the Riverside High School standout should have the chance to speak with them in person next month.
“They’re coming to see me in two weeks,” he said.
He has other programs high on his list as well.
“Other schools I’m considering are Penn State, Alabama, Oklahoma, Rutgers and Florida,” he said.
Branch already has official visits set to Penn State, Oklahoma and Rutgers coming up.
He said it’s “possible” he’ll set up an official visit to get to South Bend.
He won’t make his final decision until after completing his officials, but does know what will matter most when the time comes.
“The culture of the program and how I’m valued is going to be the difference-maker in my recruitment process.”
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