When Alex Bauman landed an offer from Rutgers and a few other Division I schools early in the fall, there was a feeling that Notre Dame would get involved in the Red Bank (N.J.) Catholic standout’s recruitment at some point.
And then Notre Dame defensive line coach Mike Elston offered the class of 2022 defensive end on Nov. 19, which was sooner than anticipated, even for Bauman himself.
“Yeah, I was a little bit surprised; I wasn’t expecting it,” said Bauman, who reports seven scholarship offers. “Coach Elston texted me earlier in the day to give him a call. He wanted to catch up with me, and we had a great talk. He offered me a scholarship, and I was so excited. We talked about my brother, Notre Dame’s academics, what they’re about and football.”
Bauman’s brother, Kevin, is a freshman tight end for the Fighting Irish. They visited Notre Dame together during the spring of 2019 together as well as for Kevin’s official visit last fall, when Notre Dame hosted USC.
“I really like Notre Dame,” the younger Bauman said. “It’s a great school with great academics – amazing football and the campus is beautiful. I really like it.”
For his play at tight end, Bauman was named to the 2020 Shore Conference Coaches All-Division first-team offense. Tight end is the position his older brother plays, but Bauman is being looked at by Notre Dame mainly as a defensive end. He posted 53 tackles and four sacks, this fall, while catching 14 passes for 232 yards on offense.
The Bauman brothers played together at Red Bank Catholic last year, and the thought of having them playing together again in South Bend has his family fired up.
“My parents went absolutely crazy,” said Bauman regarding the moment he was offered by Notre Dame. “They’re so happy for me and so happy that I have the chance to play with my brother again.
“Kevin was the first person I called after I got the offer. He was so stoked and pumped up. He was really happy for me.
There are already four Rivals FutureCast picks in for Bauman to land at Notre Dame, which comes as no surprise. But Bauman insists that nothing is imminent in his recruitment at this time as he wants to wait out the NCAA’s dead period so he can see more campuses.
“Whenever the dead period ends, we want to visit a lot of different schools, and hopefully I get some more offers by then,” he added. “We’ll see what happens; we’re open right now.
“Notre Dame is definitely a top school.”
----
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
• Sign up for Blue & Gold's news alerts and daily newsletter.
• Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts.
• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @Rivals_Singer, @PatrickEngel_, @MasonPlummer_ and @AndrewMentock.
• Like us on Facebook.
