The Notre Dame coaches told Ethan Reyna what they expect from their linebackers during Reyna’s trip to South Bend this weekend, but the 2027 Indiana linebacker already had a pretty good idea.
“I have an outlook of what they're looking for by seeing just how Drayk (Bowen) plays,” said Reyna, who plays in the same Andrean High School program Bowen once did.
“I've studied his film a lot, so I kind of know what they're looking for at Notre Dame for linebackers.”
And the 6-foot, 220-pounder thinks that fits his own style.
“Just playing with your hair on fire a bit; just a really relentless and nothing-is-going-to-stop-me type of player,” said Reyna. “Also the physical aspects; speed, power, delivering hits, delivering hits, contact, things like that.”
Bowen graduated from Andrean before Reyna arrived, but the two’s paths have crossed.
“When I was deciding whether to go to Andrean, somebody got me in contact with Drayk and I had a phone call with him about Andrean and texted him,” said Reyna. “He was a factor in me going to Andrean.
“He's definitely a cool line to talk to just about recruiting stuff. And he comes back to our school occasionally and talks to our team. It's definitely cool to have Drayk.”
Reyna has early offers from schools like Purdue, Minnesota and Rutgers among others.
He enjoyed watching the Irish beat NC State 36-7 in South Bend this weekend.
“It was great; great game, really explosive plays by the linebackers,” he said. “Drayk had some huge hits. The offense, Jeremiyah Love, he was firing on all cylinders. Both sides of the ball were just doing a tremendous job.
“And all the details of the visit from the start, just how organized the recruiting staff was and just how smooth the visit was, it was just a great visit.”
Reyna was able to introduce himself to Irish head coach Marcus Freeman and some of the Notre Dame staffers. He’s excited to continue the process with the Irish.
“We'll see how it goes,” he said. “This was my first game visit up there. I went to camp going into my sophomore year, and then I talked to some coaches, but this is my first time really visiting.
“I'm not exactly sure how the rest of my recruiting journey will go with Notre Dame, but hopefully it's a good one. If they were to invite me back to a game day, junior day, I would for sure come back.”
Reyna goes to Rutgers this week, Purdue the week after that and Michigan after that. He’s already been to Indiana, Illinois and Minnesota.
“So a lot of Big 10 schools.”
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