Notre Dame assistants visiting five-star safety Xavier Nwankpa

Altoona (Iowa) Southeast Polk safety Xavier Nwankpa is down to three schools, and one will pay him a visit Friday.

Notre Dame, which made Nwankpa’s trio of finalists, will send defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman and safeties coach Chris O’Leary to Iowa, according to a report from BlueandGold.com. Southeast Polk faces off with Ankeny in the Iowa Class 5A State Championship game.

The Irish, along with Ohio State and Iowa, are vying for Nwankpa’s commitment, which he is expected to announce on December 8.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder is the No. 26 prospect in the 2022 class, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He is the nation’s No. 2 safety and the No. 1 player in the state of Iowa.

Simmons: Iowa and Ohio State appear to be leaders for Xavier Nwankpa

All three schools are expected to make in-home visits to Nwankpa before his commitment date, according to On3 Director of Recruiting Chad Simmons.

But from what Simmons is hearing, the Buckeyes and Hawkeyes have pulled ahead at the moment.

“I still like where the Buckeyes are right now,” Simmons said. “Notre Dame is still in this, too.”

Notre Dame’s relationships have made an impression

Xavier Nwankpa has been on multiple visits to Notre Dame, most recently on Oct. 23 for the USC game.

He told Lettermen Row that he is most interested in the schools because of the people, saying that he has really good relationships with the commits in their current class.

“They have this little brotherhood,” Nwankpa said. “They’re super close and they get along and I feel welcome there. When you walk in, everyone’s really nice and has a big smile on their face. You can tell it’s genuine, not a fake smile.”

Nwankpa also had high praise for Freeman, who arrived in South Bend, Ind., before this season after a four-year stint at Cincinnati.

The five-star safety is a big believer in what Freeman is building with the Fighting Irish.

“Coach Freeman was at Cincinnati and he implemented the defense there and they were competing for a playoff for a couple of years,” Nwankpa said. “I think with players like the ones at Notre Dame, he could be leading them to that every year once people get used to it. They’re going to just be flying around.”

Nwankpa has given very little away publicly about his recruitment, and the fact that all three schools are still making a push says they each have a shot. In three weeks, one program will be adding one of the best defensive playmakers in this cycle.