For Richie Flanigan, the recruiting process may feel a bit like deja vu.
The top 2027 Wisconsin defensive line prospect had a front-row seat to his brother, James’, recruitment, which ultimately ended with the 2026 tight end target landing at Notre Dame.
Now, it’s Flanigan’s turn for the attention to be on him.
“I would say it's pretty similar to what my brother James went through except for me now,” the 6-foot-4, 280-pounder told Irish Sports Daily.
This past weekend, he attended his first Irish game as a priority recruit.
“It went good,” Flanigan said. “It was a lot of fun. It was good to see my brother and it was a fun and exciting game to watch.
“It was really loud and exciting. It was packed and it's a good atmosphere.”
The Notre Dame Academy standout was impressed with the Irish despite the 41-40 loss to Texas A&M.
“It was exciting,” he said. “The defense had a pick and obviously special teams played well. It's unfortunate that Notre Dame didn't end up winning, but I think it was a pretty good game.”
The Green Bay, Wisc., native currently has offers from schools like Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Michigan, Northwestern, Duke and Stanford among others.
Now that his own process is progressing, Flanigan is beginning to envision what it’s going to be like when he gets to college.
“I've started to shift my focus to being there with James,” he said. “On other recruiting trips. I was like, 'Hey, this would be pretty cool for James.' But now I'm really looking at it for myself and seeing what it'd be like for me.”
While on campus, he had the opportunity to connect with Notre Dame defensive line coach Al Washington and head coach Marcus Freeman.
“They just said they were excited to have me there,” Flanigan recalled. “They were excited for the game. Just told me to keep working on my season and keep dominating.
“I like them both as coaches a lot. They're both really cool people to hang around and they're just good guys.”
Flanigan’s brother has told him nothing but positives since arriving in June.
“He still really likes it,” Flanigan said. “He hasn't played in a game yet, but he still likes it a lot and he's just getting fully settled into the swing of things now.”
Flanigan has plans to get to Wisconsin, Michigan and Northwestern this Fall, but will be back in South Bend next month.
“I'm going back for the USC game and that's all I know now.”
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