One of the last uncommitted five-star prospects in the class of 2027 made his college decision on Friday.
Interior offensive lineman Albert Simien announced his commitment to Notre Dame, choosing the Fighting Irish over LSU, Texas A&M and Nebraska. The 6-foot-4, 280-pounder reeled in no less than 20 offers from Power Four programs prior to his commitment to the Fighting Irish.
Simien’s recruiting profile
Rivals ranks Simien as the No. 2 interior offensive lineman, No. 3 prospect in Louisiana and No. 20 overall prospect in its industry rankings.
Simien is a tri-sport athlete at Sam Houston High School in Lake Charles, Louisiana. In addition to his work on the Broncos’ offensive line, Simien plays basketball and competes in shot put as a member of Sam Houston’s track and field team.
Rivals director of scouting Charles Power described Simien as a “dominant interior offensive line prospect whose combination of length, functional mobility, and balance makes him one of the top linemen in the 2027 cycle” in a scouting report from October of 2025.
Implications on Notre Dame’s recruiting class
Simien is the latest addition to what is an incredibly deep 2027 recruiting class at Notre Dame. None of the 21 commits in the Fighting Irish’s class are from in-state targets, and 17 of the commits are rated as blue-chip prospects.
Of those blue-chip prospects, Simien is the third five-star commitment. Offensive tackle Oluwasemilore Olubobola, the No. 2 offensive tackle in the class, committed to Notre Dame on May 12. Abraham Sesay, the No. 3 defensive end in the cycle, announced his decision June 16.
In addition to the strength they have with Olubobola and Simien’s commitments, the Fighting Irish hold two more blue-chip offensive line commits. Four-star interior offensive linemen Richie Flanigan and James Halter both committed to Notre Dame in the midst of the 2025 football season.
Outlook for Simien’s other finalists
Losing a coveted in-state prospect is never a good feeling, and that exact thing happened to LSU. The good news for the Tigers is they hold a commitment from Terrance Smith, who ranks as the No. 10 interior offensive lineman in the class.
Texas A&M’s 2027 class is already loaded on the offensive line. The Aggies hold a pair of five-star offensive line commits in interior offensive lineman Kennedy Brown and offensive tackle Mark Matthews.
Additional blue-chip commitments include four-star offensive tackles Kaeden Scott and DeMarrion Johnson.
Nebraska holds a trio of interior offensive line commits, although two of those are from three-star prospects.
However, Jordan Agbanoma, the No. 7 interior offensive lineman in the class, committed to the Cornhuskers back on May 20.
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