Ace Alston is already a veteran of high-level football and the new 2027 Notre Dame cornerback commit still has another season of high school ball left.
“He's heading into his senior year and he has already started over 40 football games,” Anderson (Ohio) High School head coach Evan Dreyer told Irish Sports Daily of Alston, who announced his commitment to Notre Dame on Tuesday.
“Since he's been here, we've been to the State Final Four, two state championships and we're 42-4. It's pretty cool to see how much he's elevated our defensive back play.”
Dreyer points to two things he believes separate the 5-foot-11, 175-pounder most.
“A) is Football IQ and knowledge and understanding of pre-snap and post-snap to a quarterback,” said Dreyer. “And B) I think is physicality and open-field tackling are an elite trait and both are needed to play at an all-time high. From Day One, he has been an unbelievable open-field tackler and his physicality has just grown so much as he's grown over the last three years.
“It's pretty cool to see his Football IQ from training in his younger years all the way through playing different coverages off-man press-man, press-bail, zone coverages, it has been pretty remarkable. Now he's become a leader and heading to his senior year, it's been pretty cool.”
The leadership aspect is another important trait Alston has proven to possess.
“One of the key things is that football is a natural thing to him,” his coach said. “It comes easy because he's worked so hard without the lights on. You're talking about a kid that works out in the morning, then comes out for school and then goes to another workout in the evening. People can talk about what is real out there about work ethic and he displays it.
“He brings people. He's been able to bring our junior class, to-be-senior class, the guys with him to extra workouts, which has improved our program. So his leadership style is one of those where his work ethic is contagious and he wants to be really, really good and wants to compete against the best. That is one good thing. While our offense has definitely been better, his competitive nature in practice will improve anybody. It's great to see. In college, it's going to take him to another level of being able to compete and elevate everybody else's play around him.”
Alston earned scores of scholarship offers and cemented his status as an elite prospect early in the process, but Dreyer expects his stock to continue to rise.
“When people put on his tape and then see him this spring, people are going to see like, 'Wow! He is a really, really special defensive back in 2027,’” said Dreyer.
In fact, interest in him was continuing to increase even in the lead-up to his decision with schools like Florida State, Miami and LSU trying to make late bids.
But Notre Dame got in on him early, so early former general manager Chad Bowden was one of the early lead recruiters for him along with head coach Marcus Freeman.
“It started with Chad and Marcus and the way they got to him early,” said Dreyer. “I think anybody who was around Chad and then Marcus, knew it was a really good fit there. And then you throw in Mike Mickens, who I think is one of the best defensive back coaches/recruiters and just is great from a relationship-building process and then Marcus is the closer.”
In the end, it was a staffwide effort.
“Whether it was (Al) Golden or (Chris) Ash, all these guys did a really good job of building a relationship. And then you've got young guy Max (Bullough), the linebacker coach, you've got Mike. All those guys did their part in making sure Notre Dame's relationship-building was always driven.
“And let's be honest, Marcus being a defensive head coach, being relatable, being from Ohio, did a really good job of just selling Notre Dame's institution as a whole. That was probably what's been the best is seeing the academic and athletics prowess still there at Notre Dame and still today in 2025, where it's still one of the best programs in the country.”
Want the latest scoop on the Fighting Irish? Sign up for our newsletter and become an ISD Premium Subscriber: Sign Up for ISD
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Under Armour Basketball Leprechaun Tech Stretch Long Sleeve T-Shirt
