Top 2021 OL Riley Mahlman Previews Upcoming Notre Dame Camp

Riley Mahlman‍ has steadily emerged as one of the top offensive line prospects in the Midwest for the Class of 2021.

Within the last few weeks, the Minnesota native has added scholarship offers from Ohio State and Michigan State to a list that already included schools like Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, Northwestern and Minnesota.

“It’s super cool to expand and get more nationally recruited,” said Mahlman. “It’s really cool and fun to be widely known around the nation.”

The Lakeville South High School standout has already been to Notre Dame a few times – for a camp last summer, for the 2018 opener against Michigan and again for April’s spring game – and he will be back in South Bend for the Lineman’s Challenge Camp this Saturday.

“I just want to show them how I’ve grown since last year,” said Mahlman. “I’ve gained quite a few pounds and kept my athletic ability. I also want to show them how I’ve improved my technique and show them what kind of player I am now.”

The 6-foot-8 Mahlman said he was around 230, 240 pounds when he camped at Notre Dame last summer and is up to 270 today. He didn’t go out of his way to add the weight.

“I was just living a regular lifestyle,” he said. “I wasn’t really trying to gain so much weight, it just naturally happened, which is good.”

His interest in the Irish is serious.

“They’re a top school in the nation academically and football-wise,” he said. “It’d be really neat to get the best of both worlds and go to a college that’s great and everybody shows love for. There’s no negatives from people who went there.”

Mahlman’s initial impressions of Irish offensive line coach Jeff Quinn are positive.

“I really like him,” said Mahlman. “He’s a really outgoing guy. It seems like he knows a ton about the game. He’s really knowledgeable. I’d love to learn from him and become one of his players. It’d just be great.”

He’s also planning trips at Wisconsin, Minnesota and Ohio State among others this month.

Mahlman doesn’t have a set timetable for a decision, but could start narrowing his list soon.

“I’ve been thinking about it a little bit, but right now my options are open. I think I’m going to start narrowing it down sooner, maybe the end of the summer.”