2025 WR Elijah Burress commits to Notre Dame football
Notre Dame is on the board in the 2025 class at the wide receiver position. The Irish just picked up a pledge from a prospect with impressive NFL lineage.
Wayne (N.J.) DePaul Catholic wide receiver Elijah Burress — the son of Super Bowl XLII champion and former Giants and Steelers pass catcher Plaxico Burress — announced his commitment to Notre Dame on Saturday evening.
“I think it’s the perfect spot for me,” Burress told Blue & Gold before announcing his pledge. “The coaching staff, the players there, the place, the scheme — it’s all perfect for me.
“My family wanted me to make my own decision, and they were confident in me to do that.”
Back in October, Burress added an offer from Duke — his first scholarship — and he didn’t see any additional offers come his way until the calendar flipped to 2024. Cincinnati and East Carolina both offered him Jan. 9, and then two days later, Notre Dame entered the mix with a big scholarship. Toledo, Massachusetts, James Madison, Temple, Marshall and Buffalo have followed up with offers since.
Burress was probably on his way to earning more scholarship offers with his recruiting really kicking off in 2024, especially in April and May when college coaches are allowed to get back on the road. But Burress already saw enough from Notre Dame.
“I’m confident in where I want to go,” he said. “I think it’s a great fit for me.”
Nine days after earning his offer from Notre Dame, Burress took a visit to South Bend to meet the coaching staff and see campus for the first time.
“It’s a school I can see myself at,” Burress said after the trip. “I like it a lot … I got to talk to the coaches a lot and build relationships with everyone. I talked to some of the recruits, went around the facilities and had a lot of fun.”
Burress notes that he informed the staff of his decision to commit earlier this week.
“I talked to Coach Dre Brown, Coach Mike Brown, Chad [Bowden] and Coach [Marcus] Freeman,” said Burress. “They were pumped up, and I was, too. It was a great moment.”
According to NJ.com, he hauled in 29 passes for 439 yards with 5 touchdowns during his junior season. Burress is the No. 85 wide receiver nationally and No. 19 recruit in New Jersey in 2025, per On3.
His father caught 553 passes for 8,499 yards with 64 touchdowns during his NFL career.
“I’ll watch games with him, and he gives me a lot of knowledge,” the young Burress said of his father. “I learn a lot from him. He’ll show me his film sometimes and teach me things he was doing. He shows me key things that only he would know.”
Burress is Notre Dame’s first receiver commit of the 2025 class. The Irish look to be in the driver’s seat of the recruitments of Las Vegas Bishop Gorman’s Derek Meadows and Atlanta Woodward Academy’s Jerome Bettis Jr. as well.
