Promising camp performer, Notre Dame target Jackson Vaughn sets commitment date

One of the top competitors at last year’s Irish Invasion high school prospect camp is set to announce his commitment. And Notre Dame is one of five finalists.

Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic edge rusher Jackson Vaughn will announce his declaration May 26, Blue & Gold has learned. He will choose between Notre Dame, Auburn, LSU, Miami and South Carolina.

The 6-foot-4, 227-pound Vaughn’s decision date comes about two weeks after unofficially visiting Notre Dame for the spring game. It was his second time on campus this spring after previously visiting March 21 for the program’s junior day event. In addition to Notre Dame, he visited Alabama, Auburn, California, Miami, Texas and Texas A&M this spring. He is expected to visit South Carolina on Saturday.

Vaughn is also deciding to pick a program after announcing his reclassification to the 2027 class. He was previously one of the top recruits in the 2028 cycle before he decided to graduate high school early.

Whether he was a 2027 or 2028 class recruit, Vaughn was always going to be a top target for the Irish. Notre Dame offered him after his dominant performance at the program’s premier high school prospect camp June 6. His showing was among the best of any camp participant in the Marcus Freeman era. It translated to his second high school football campaign.

As a sophomore at Bergen Catholic — the No. 3 team in New Jersey — Vaughn recorded 40 tackles (14 solo), 12 tackles for loss and 8 sacks. Since then, he has been a priority target for the Irish, and Notre Dame will look to add him to its commitment list.

Rivals currently rates Vaughn as a three-star prospect and ranks him as the No. 6 player in New Jersey and No. 33 edge nationally. However, with a strong senior season, he could prompt evaluators to raise his ranking.

In addition to Vaughn, two other Irish targets will come off the board the week this month. Offensive tackle Oluwasemilore Olubobola and defensive lineman David Folorunsho will announce their decisions Tuesday and Friday, respectively, on the Rivals YouTube channel. According to Rivals, both are five-star prospects and rank as the Nos. 9 and 20 overall players in the class, respectively.

According to the Rivals Recruiting Prediciton Machine, the Irish are the favorites to land Vaughn, Olubobola and Folorunsho. The Irish currently have 14 commits in the 2027 cycle and the class ranks No. 10 nationally.