4-star RB Jonaz Walton sets commitment date, one school trending

Carrollton (Ga.) Central four-star running back Jonaz Walton will announce his commitment on May 14, he posted Thursday on X.

The 5’9, 190-pounder most recently named a list of his top 10 schools back in February, but looks to be deciding between a smaller list. Tennessee, Notre Dame, Alabama Florida and Stanford are the five schools he has locked in official visits with this summer.

I will be committing 3:00pm Wednesday, May 14th @ Central High School. It will be covered on YouTube live! Tune in! https://t.co/wWm3kF9xe9 | @SWiltfong_ @On3Recruits @247Sports @CoachWmWalton @JacezWalton26 @CoachUBrown @LIONSTRONGFB @LionSportsCHS pic.twitter.com/no3Ij3hefo

— Jonaz Walton (@JonazWalton) May 8, 2025

It’s the Fighting Irish, however, who are trending as the favorite heading into his decision next week. On3 VP of Recruiting Steve Wiltfong logged an expert prediction in ND’s favor on Tuesday.

“They’ve gotten him to campus twice this calendar year and I think ND is the one to beat,” he wrote. “With that I’ve logged an On3 RPM in favor of Notre Dame to ultimately land the four-star’s verbal.”

Fighting Irish check off a lot of boxes for Walton and his family

One of the key factors in his decision is academics, a major notch in Notre Dame’s cap.

“Some of my favorite things about it comes down to the academic piece of it. That’s one of the biggest things I enjoy about it. And the coaches,” he recently told Wiltfong. “Coach Seider is a new addition. I have a relationship with him and it’s amped up more now. Same thing with Coach Freeman. Being able to get around him and get to know more about him.”

His father, William, echoed much of the same sentiment.

“We all feel the same, it’s kind of surreal,” he added. “You watch the movie ‘Rudy,’ you follow the team this season and when you get up here, and now meet a few of the players and meet Coach Freeman and see the facility it was really different. A good different. It was more substance. We have been to a lot of places we’ve visited that have a lot of bells and whistles. We’re not the bells and whistle type of guys. We don’t need the flashy things. There are things here flashy but that wasn’t the meat of it. It had more substance here.”

Over three seasons at the varsity level, the younger Walton has amassed more than than 5,600 all-purpose yards and 73 touchdowns.

Walton is the No. 123 overall prospect and No. 10 RB in the 2026 class, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

On3, however is slightly higher on him than the other services. In the recently updated On300 rankings, he was tabbed as the country’s No. 104 recruit and No. 6 running back.