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How social media reacted to five-star EDGE Rodney Dunham’s Notre Dame commitment

Kyle Kellyby: Kyle Kelly04/10/25ByKyleKelly
rodney dunhham on3 fp
2026 EDGE Rodney Dunham pictured with family and Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman (photo provided)

On Thursday, the Notre Dame football program secured its biggest recruiting win of the 2026 cycle to date. Charlotte (N.C.) Myers Park five-star EDGE Rodney Dunham Jr. announced his verbal commitment to the Fighting Irish.

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Dunham declared to Notre Dame over four finalists: Duke, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee. He unofficially visited the Blue Devils five times, more than any other school, and made three trips each to Columbia, S.C., and Knoxville, Tenn.

Dunham decided to shut down his recruitment in favor of the Irish after visiting Notre Dame and Georgia in March. He announced his commitment date less than five days after his trip to South Bend concluded, which was only his second.

He also held offers from 25 other programs, including Alabama, LSU, Ohio State, Texas, Oregon, Michigan, Texas A&M, Florida State, Auburn, North Carolina, Missouri and Northwestern.

According to the On3 Industry Ranking —  a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services — Dunham is the No. 19 overall player, No. 3 EDGE nationally and No. 3 recruit in North Carolina in the 2026 class.

In On3’s rankings, Dunham is slotted even higher as the No. 7 overall player, No. 3 EDGE in the country and No. 3 player in the Tar Heel State.

Dunham is the highest-ranked prospect on an Irish 2026 class commit list featuring two other four-star North Carolina defenders: Garner (N.C.) South Garner EDGE Ebenezer Ewetade and Matthews (N.C.) Weddington linebacker Thomas Davis Jr.

Notre Dame also has a pair of interior offensive linemen pledged to the program from Michigan: Allegan (Mich.) High’s Sullivan Garvin and Davison (Mich.) High’s Ben Nichols. It has another out of Mechanicsburg (Pa.) Cumberland Valley in four-star Tyler Merrill.

Lake Mary (Fla.) High quarterback Noah Grubbs, Boca Raton (Fla.) Saint Andrew’s School wide receiver Dylan Faison and Chattanooga (N.C.) McCallie School cornerback Chaston Smith round out the commit list.

Here is how social media reacted to the latest addition to the class in Dunham.

Social media reacts to five-star EDGE Rodney Dunham Jr.’s Notre Dame football commitment

On3 national recruiting reporter Hayes Fawcett broke the news.

Dunham discussed his decision with On3 vice president of recruiting and transfer portal Steve Wiltfong.

Jevaughn Codlin is a defensive analyst for Notre Dame

Matt Jansen is Notre Dame’s director of scouting.

Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa is Notre Dame’s director of recruiting advancement.

Nick Sebastian is Notre Dame’s assistant defensive line coach.

Charles Power is On3’s director of scouting and rankings.

Grubbs, Merrill and Garvin congratulated Dunham on X.

Forney (Texas) High four-star running back Javian Osborne is a key Irish target who will return to South Bend on Saturday.

Tom Lemming is a national recruiting analyst for Prep Football Report.

The Irish made a big leap in the 2026 class team rankings.

Notre Dame recruiting is a fan account that posts about the Irish.

Eli Lederman covers college football recruiting for ESPN.

Clemson Addict is a Clemson Tigers fan account.

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