Marcus Fakatou started visiting Notre Dame early in the process, picking up an offer from the Irish after camping in South Bend back in the summer of 2024. The elite 2028 California defensive lineman was back for a multi-day tour of the University back in the spring of this year.
He returned again this past weekend for the Irish’s rivalry game against USC.
“It was a good game, a great atmosphere,” Fakatou told Irish Sports Daily afterward. “Obviously, the recruiting department did a good job in welcoming me and my family over there. So overall, it was a great trip.”
The Orange Lutheran star was able to reconnect with Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman, defensive line coach Al Washington and defensive line assistant coach Nick Sebastian.
“Just talking to them was phenomenal,” Fakatou said. “They were just obviously asking me how my trip was and then just telling me why Notre Dame should be the place to go. Every time I get to talk to them, it's always a good conversation with them.”
The message from the Irish staff was a familiar one.
“Obviously there are other California kids over there and them moving from California over there is a pretty far move to do and they wanted me to pick what's uncomfortable and not comfortable,” Fakatou explained.
The 6-foot-7, 285-pounder acknowledged that by definition, choosing hard is not easy.
“It was a lot for me to take in and think about, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense,” he said. “Obviously, in life. everything's not going to be comfortable, so just going to college like that and getting that early experience and getting to know what it feels like it's obviously going to help me in the long run.”
Fakatou, who has offers from USC, Washington, Oregon, Texas, Oklahoma, LSU, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State and Michigan among several others, is also impressed with the people at Notre Dame.
“I think they're amazing people,” he said. “They're great people. Other than just being coaches, they're just great people off the field.”
He also likes the look of the other recruits Notre Dame is after.
“They're obviously some top dogs,” said Fakatou. “An old friend of mine from the Under Armour All American Game, Asher Ghioto, was there. I got to hang with him for a little bit. So hanging with him and reconnecting and seeing how our seasons were both going was great.”
Perhaps the most important other recruit the Irish are chasing is Fakatou’s younger brother, Inoke, who picked up an offer from Notre Dame back in August.
“That meant a lot,” Fakatou said of the Irish offering his brother. “Being able to see the seeds that I planted come to life, seeing that my brother's also getting looked at and also seeing the blessings that he's receiving, that meant a lot.”
He was honest about the idea of possibly playing together in college.
“That's the goal,” he said. “We're trying to end up at the same place.”
Inoke is onboard with that as well.
“I think that'd be really good for us to play together,” he said.
Inoke was in South Bend this past weekend as well and was impressed.
“It's a very good school, a very holy place to learn about Christ,” Inoke said. “Also the coaching staff…I got to meet all the coaches and staff members and players. Marcus Freeman was telling me to be humble and just keep working.
“Everything's good out there.”
Next up for the Fakatou brothers are trips to Texas and Ole Miss, but whenever Markus starts taking official visits, South Bend will be on the itinerary.
“They're going to be the first ones I take my OV to,” he said.
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