DJ Tubbs’ speed helped open the door to a Notre Dame offer this spring.
The relationships the Irish built behind the scenes meant the offer carried even more significance.
The 2028 California receiver picked up his Notre Dame offer on April 15 after a strong performance during the Under Armour camp circuit, including a blazing-fast 40-yard dash.
“I ran a 4.39 at the Under Armour Camp,” Tubbs told Irish Sports Daily. “I posted that up, sent it to the coaches and stuff like that.”
Later that same day, the St. John Bosco standout heard from wide receivers coach Mike Brown and assistant wide receivers coach Shaun Shivers.
“They just said they wanted to send me a scholarship offer,” Tubbs said.
The 5-foot-11, 175-pounder already held offers from schools like Oregon, UCLA, Washington, Missouri and Arizona State among others, but Notre Dame’s offer still stood out immediately.
“I was happy,” Tubbs said. “Notre Dame had been talking to me for a little bit.”
The Downey, Calif., native pointed toward the overall reputation surrounding Notre Dame’s program.
“They have a good history with receivers,” Tubbs said. “It’s a really good school, smart school and stuff like that.”
The offer also carried some family significance.
“A couple of my family members are Notre Dame fans as well,” Tubbs explained. “So it was really just a blessing.”
Notre Dame began building relationships several months before the offer arrived.
Tubbs and Notre Dame recruiting assistant Justice Bathas first connected back in January before Brown later visited St. John Bosco that same month.
“I just kind of built that relationship from there,” Tubbs said. “They’ve been keeping in touch ever since.”
The next step in the process could eventually bring Tubbs to South Bend for the first time.
“They want me to come up there for a visit probably in the summer,” Tubbs said. “I’ll probably visit in the summer or a game.”
If that trip materializes, Tubbs already knows exactly what he wants to evaluate.
“I just want to see how their practice is and also just the day in the life of a student-athlete there at Notre Dame,” Tubbs said. “I just want to see if I could picture myself at Notre Dame.”
Tubbs has not taken many visits yet this spring, but also plans to see schools like Oregon, Washington, Arizona State, UCLA and Oklahoma over the coming months while continuing to sort through one of the more rapidly growing recruitments on the West Coast.
Even this early in the process, Tubbs already has a strong sense of what will matter most when the time eventually comes to narrow things down.
“Wherever can develop me the most,” Tubbs said. “My dream is to make it to the NFL.”
Those long-term goals will remain central to his thinking.
“I just want to go somewhere where I’m developed right,” Tubbs said.
Tubbs acknowledged he and his family have already begun discussing a rough timeline for eventually narrowing his list.
“I’ll say after June 15th, when the coaches can start talking to me more, I’ll probably narrow it down a little bit after that.”
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