Wyatt VanBoening has already seen plenty of Notre Dame during three trips to South Bend.
The 2028 Illinois offensive lineman will return this fall looking to experience something he hasn't seen yet, the Irish on a true game day.
VanBoening has scheduled a return for Notre Dame's Sept. 19 game against Michigan State, his fourth trip since earning an offer from the Irish during the Pot of Gold Day push in March.
The 6-foot-7, 280-pounder made his first trip to South Bend shortly after that offer and returned for the Blue-Gold Game and Irish Invasion, giving him opportunities to continue building relationships with offensive line coach Joe Rudolph and offensive line assistant Rob Delaney while learning more about the program.
But VanBoening still hasn't experienced Notre Dame Stadium during a regular-season game.
"I got a little taste of it during the spring game, but I want to get a feel for the culture and just the environment and how they face adversity," VanBoening said. "I never made it out to a game last year because I didn't even know I was on their board.
"I just want to make it out to a game to see how their culture is, see how they face adversity and I guess just get a feel for the atmosphere."
VanBoening's repeated trips to Notre Dame have been driven in large part by two of the qualities that will ultimately factor heavily into his decision.
"It's probably the combination of education and football because there are very few programs where you can get as high of an education as you could at Notre Dame and then also be competing for a national championship," the Carmel Catholic High School standout said.
The Mundelein, Ill., native is still working through the remainder of his fall visit schedule.
He has other games he wants to see as well, but working around his own football schedule isn't his only consideration.
"I want to go back to Northwestern," VanBoening said. "I want to go check out Ohio State. I might go try and make it down to the Iowa-Iowa State game. That's not anything set.
"I'm just still trying to plan out a schedule and then it's difficult because I have two older brothers, so I'm trying to work around their schedules and get to go watch them play because they play Army and Lindenwood."
VanBoening expects to narrow his options later this season, although he isn't sure whether he'll publicly release a list of finalists.
"I'll probably have it narrowed down later in the season," he said. "I don't know if I'll announce anything."
Unlike many prospects in the 2028 class, VanBoening can already envision making his college decision relatively soon.
"I'll probably announce my commitment not long after the season, probably that November-January or November-December area," he said.
That makes his September return to Notre Dame an opportunity for VanBoening to evaluate the Irish in one of the few settings he hasn't experienced yet.
And he already knows what he'll be measuring Notre Dame and his other options against when the time comes to choose.
"Development, education. I want to go to a program that has a highly competitive culture that's not toxic and just a program that has a proven track record of producing good offensive linemen."
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