2028 QB Matthew Lee Remains High On Notre Dame After Latest Visit
It’s still early in his recruitment, but Matthew Lee has already made multiple visits to Notre Dame and the 2028 Illinois quarterback was back again for the Irish’s home opener against Texas A&M.
“It was awesome,” Lee told Irish Sports Daily. “It was a really cool game, awesome atmosphere. I know the last play didn't go exactly how we wanted it to, but it was a really cool game.
“The student section was really loud and we were right next to it. It was super loud the whole night. And then obviously all the people who put in work for the electronics and everything, that was really cool. Any football stadium, I think, is a pretty cool atmosphere. I just love being around it.”
The 6-foot-4, 180-pounder was impressed with the Irish offense and quarterback CJ Carr despite the 41-40 loss to the Aggies.
“I thought CJ played really well, really the whole team,” he said. “It just came down to one play, but it was a really fun experience.
“They put up 40-plus points. It's hard to be disappointed in an offense that does that. I thought CJ was really poised. One thing I noticed was he threw a really nice layered ball a few times over defenders, which was cool to see.”
The Loyola Academy standout believes it’s a scheme he would be comfortable playing in.
“For sure,” he said. “I saw a lot of RPOs. Actually one play they ran was almost identical to what we run, the touchdown to Jeremiyah Love was kind of like a mesh concept, Mesh Rail. I thought that was cool. I definitely could see myself fitting in the system later on.”
Because of his own late game the night before, Lee arrived in South Bend just before the game and didn’t get much time to talk with any of the coaches. Still, he has kept in touch with the Irish and quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli since camping at Notre Dame this summer.
“Really just keep working hard,” Lee said of the message from the Irish. “What matters most to them is just what I put up on film, so focus on how I'm doing in high school and focus on my high school experience and my high school team, and then let all the recruiting stuff just happen naturally.”
Lee picked up his first offer over the summer, from Wisconsin.
“It was really cool, obviously rewarding,” he said. “It felt like my work definitely paid off, but at the same time, I still need to keep working hard because they can take it away at any time. Just keep focusing on what I'm doing at the high school level.”
In addition to Notre Dame, Lee is hearing from several Big Ten schools, including Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State, as well as a handful of SEC programs.
He doesn’t have any other visit plans locked in for the Fall.
“Right now, me and my family are kind of playing it by ear,” he said. “Some weeks after a big game, if I'm banged up, I'm probably not going to go out and watch a game. I'll just watch it from home.”
He could be back in South Bend for a game this season.
“I'll see,” he said. “I'm definitely going to try to get out there for camp after the season's over. I don't know if they'll come out for a workout in the offseason. But really for me, I'm just focused on finishing out my actual high school year strong and then putting up the film for them so they can see what I can do.”
Lee said he’d describe his interest level in the Irish as “very high.”
“Coach (Marcus) Freeman talked to us and he said his main message of recruiting for them is just what you should look for in a school is the people. And I think Notre Dame's people, you can't get much better than that. The coaches and the players and the support staff around the school, so they're definitely really high on my list and I could see myself going there in the future.”
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