Ben Ramsey scored the game-winning goal with 6 seconds left in a game played on Long Island. I'll have a full story up later this afternoon.

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Notre Dame football 2026 defensive end target Jerimy "JJ" Finch Jr. returned to campus on Saturday for his second visit this week after visiting on Monday.

The 6-foot-4, 235-pound defender is listed as a defensive tackle by Rivals, but the Irish offered him on Pot of Gold Day as a defensive end and will recruit him moving forward at that position.

Finch attends Indianapolis Warren Central and is teammates with 2025 DE target Damien Shanklin. Finch holds eight total offers including Notre Dame, Central Michigan, Indiana, Louisville, Toledo and Western Michigan.

As a sophomore, Finch registered 41 tackles (23 solo) including 14 for loss in Class 6A. He also recorded three sacks, forced two fumbles, and had one fumble recovery. He recorded one pass breakup and a blocked field goal.

I spoke with Finch on Saturday evening to learn why he felt it was necessary to return for the second time this week, who is playing the biggest role in his recruitment and more.

On why he returned:

"Just the bond with the coaches [and] the atmosphere really," Finch told Inside ND Sports. "That's why it really drew me back to come back up there."

On what he saw during the scrimmage:

"They played very physical and fast [and] [defensive line] coach [Al] Washington ... he really is like into the game. He's not just chilling, he really gets with it."

On head coach Marcus Freeman:

"It's really good with coach Freeman, he's a good man. I got nothing bad to say about him, really. He just knows how to talk with people with our background."

From my time speaking with Finch, he is very business-like in a similar way to 2025 DE commit Christopher Burgess Jr. Finch is focused on football, the coaches and the program. He also mentioned the staff has communicated with him about how every Irish player is set up for success outside of football with the education they receive while attending ND.

Finch has not yet received a rating or ranking from Rivals. He said Notre Dame is right down the road so continuing to build a relationship is a priority for him heading into his junior season.

Link to full story:


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I'll give you a viewers guide for this in a little bit. Off to record a YouTube video with @Eric Hansen.

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Darren Ikinnagbon, who the Irish were recruiting primarily as a defensive tackle project, has committed to Georgia. Ikinnagbon made his first visit to Notre Dame on March 27. His visit to Georgia this weekend was the second of the spring.

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As detailed in The Heat Index, the Irish are running low on remaining defensive line targets after four early commitments.

Stories from UGASports and Rivals:

Inside ND Sports details which signees, commits, targets and prospects are set to check out Notre Dame this weekend with additional notes on each of targets' recruitment.

@Eric Hansen and I discussed our biggest takeaways from today's jersey scrimmage.

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Anthony Donofrio, Vance Honeycutt and Alberto Osuna all hit home runs as 13th-ranked North Carolina took down visiting Notre Dame, 7-2, Saturday in ACC baseball action.

The Tar Heels (28-7, 13-4 ACC) go for the three-game series sweep Sunday at 1 p.m. (EDT).

The Irish (15-17, 2-15) collected nine hits, but all of them were singles, and they only drew two walks. Simon Baumgardt and Connor Hincks each had two hits and an RBI for Notre Dame.

Freshman Jack Radel went 4 ⅔ innings on the mound as the Irish starter, giving up four hits, three earned runs and a walk while striking out six.

NORTH CAROLINA 7, NOTRE DAME 2: Box Score

I'll circle back with some more details later, but I wanted to give you guys some of the notable highlights from today's scrimmage.

Update: Here's that detailed breakdown.

Reminder: We were not permitted to film any video or take any pictures of today's scrimmage. We'll pass along what Notre Dame chooses to put out.

As I mentioned in the Marcus Freeman press conference thread, Notre Dame's defense had a pair of pick-6s. Cornerback Jaden Mickey had the first one on a pass by Steve Angeli. Mickey cut in front of Mitchell on an out route near the sideline.

Safety Xavier Watts had the other pick-6 on a throw by quarterback Kenny Minchey. Watts read Minchey's eyes to step in front of a pass that I believe was intended for tight end Cooper Flanagan, but Watts was so far in front of the intended receiver that it was hard to tell.

Minchey scored the first touchdown of the day for the offense. He ran in a six-yard touchdown on an RPO keeper. On that drive, Minchey took reps with the first-team offense against the first-team defense.

Quarterback CJ Carr put Notre Dame's offense in the end zone on the next drive. With the No. 2 offense taking on the No. 2 defense, Carr hit wide receiver Cam Williams on a post route that beat cornerback Chance Tucker for a 21-yard touchdown.

Carr led the No. 3 offense down the field for a touchdown against the No. 3 defense as well. He capped the drive with a one-yard keeper to the right. He made a 20-yard completion to wide receiver Jack Polian on third-and-2 to set up the score.

The scrimmage ended with safety Adon Shuler intercepting an Angeli pass in the red zone. Angeli tried to throw short to his right on third-and-2 but he didn't see Shuler in the flat.

The defense was definitely better than the offense today, which isn't surprising. They were able to generate pressure pretty consistently with four-man rushes and blitz looks. Freeman let the QBs escape on a number of plays that probably should have been blown dead on sacks.

This would a great addition to ND , with Stanford moving into ACC play, not to mention an academic match.

Notre Dame WR Jayden Harrison strained the plantar fascia in his left foot, which has sidelined him this week and will keep him out the rest of spring.

WR Jayden Thomas has also been limited by a hamstring injury. He hasn't been very active in recent practices, including today's scrimmage.

Greetings from Notre Dame Stadium. We're about to watch Notre Dame's practice from the press box, but we're barred from providing any updates until we start speaking to head coach Marcus Freeman afterward. That press conference is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. EDT.

I'll share updates in this thread. You can follow along on YouTube as well:

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“Right now, my entire focus is on Notre Dame,” Steve Angeli said. “I’m a guy that lives in the present. The future can be determined when we get there. It’s not my worry right now. All I’m focused on is these next five, six practices that we have left in spring and just give it my all.”

Notre Dame baseball's attempt to win an ACC series for just the second time in six tries started in failing fashion Friday with a 13-0 loss at No. 14 North Carolina that ended after seven innings due to the run rule.

The Tar Heels (27-7, 12-4 ACC) shelled Notre Dame starting pitcher Matt Bedford (1-5) for seven runs in 3 2/3 innings. The right-handed senior allowed seven hits, including two home runs and two doubles, walked one batter and struck out another.

Nate Hardman pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings before David Lally Jr. too his lumps. He allowed five runs while recording only one out in the sixth inning. Will Jacobsen allowed a three-run home run after inheriting two runners from Lally.

The Irish (15-16, 2-14) managed just three hits while being shut out: a double by first baseman Connor Hincks and singles by right fielder Tito Flores and second baseman Nick DeMarco. North Carolina starter Jason Decaro (2-1) allowed all three hits in his six innings pitched with one walk and three strikeouts. Kyle Percival ended the game by keeping the Irish scoreless in the seventh inning.

Notre Dame will try to bounce back Saturday with Jack Radel (2-1, 3.07 ERA) on the mound.

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Nice diving catch here by WR KK Smith. Ball thrown by CJ Carr. Jaiden Ausberry on the early coverage.

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Is there an article or discussion somewhere (that I’ve missed) about speed on next year’s team? Would really love to see comparisons of how team speed 2024 compares to teams of yesterday and yesteryear. Perhaps that’s asking for too much. Don’t see a whole lot of available data out there. But it would be cool. My sense is that our recruiting has taken a serious leap in that direction of late. But I’d guess it’s still a deficiency compared to the top dogs/Dawgs.

Appreciate anybody pointing me in the right direction or, alternatively, commiserating with me over how important but unknowable it seems to be. Will hang up and listen.

While Ryan Field is being remade, Northwestern football plans to play in a temporary stadium built along the Lake Michigan shoreline.

Interesting concept.

After publishing my Heat Index update this morning, I received some feedback on another recruit that Notre Dame feels really good about heading into a visit this weekend: four-star cornerback Trystan Haynes.

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The No. 18 cornerback and No. 205 overall prospect in the 2025 class will be making his first visit to Notre Dame this weekend. But before the visit occurs, Haynes has also scheduled an official visit to Notre Dame for June 14-16. His other planned official visits are Miami, Texas A&M and Oklahoma.

I did a little more digging to see if folks in Oklahoma were convinced that he'd leave his home state and didn't receive any pushbask on that. That gives me the green light to submit a FutureCast prediction for Haynes to eventually pick Notre Dame.

So what does that mean for the two cornerback targets — Mark Zackery and Dallas Golden — who Notre Dame's already had a lot of momentum with? That remains to be seen. There's a chance that it leaves one cornerback from this trio without a spot. Neither Zackery nor Golden has been willing to pull the commitment trigger, so Notre Dame keeps pushing for other talented cornerbacks.

For the time being, I'm keeping my FutureCasts to ND still in for Zackery and Golden. I feel slightly better about ND's chances for Zackery than Golden, but if I switch a pick, I have to pick another school. And I'm not ready to do that for either of them.

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As always, our Inside ND Sports subscribers learn about my FutureCasts first on The Insider Lounge. I'll formally submit the pick tomorrow.

Across the country:

Sportico legal expert Michael McCann, who's also a professor of law at New Hampshire and visiting professor of law at Harvard, discusses the current legal battles with the potential to have the biggest impact on college athletics, the NCAA's push to allow schools to make direct NIL payments to athletes, if the NCAA's role moving forward is sustainable, the timeline and impact of Dartmouth men's basketball players unionizing, if employment would limit transfers and more.

Then @Eric Hansen and I answer questions from Twitter and The Insider Lounge (22:49).

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The rivalry that's not really a rivalry: Deland McCullough vs. Al Washington as Blue-Gold Game coaches.

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@Eric Hansen and I plan to record our next Inside ND Sports podcast on Thursday or Friday (still TBD). Send us some questions you'd like us to discuss. We like to give priority to questions submitted on The Insider Lounge.

If you have multiple questions, try to be succinct and ask them separately. Thanks!