During Logan Saldate’s sophomore football season at Palma High in Salinas, Calif., the wide receiver with just one college scholarship offer at the time made a promise to himself.
“I was like, ‘There are going to be more offers, and if Notre Dame was one of them, I would never pass that up,’” the eventual Rivals three-star prospect said.
Promise kept.
On Friday, the 5-foot-10, now 185-pound rising senior flipped the commitment he made to Oregon State on May 29 to a pledge to the Irish. Sight unseen. His next visit to the ND campus will be his first.
“I plan to get up there for their first home game,” Saldate told Inside ND Sports. “[ND freshman tight end] Cooper Flanagan was on my 7-on-7 team and has been talking about what a great place it is. I did my research, too. I’ve talked to the coaches. I love coach [Marcus] Freeman and how easy he is to relate to and talk to.
“It really took a lot of family talks to really make the final decision. But It’s Notre Dame, first of all. I feel like if I passed up this opportunity, I’d kick myself in the butt later on.”
Saldate’s addition to the Notre Dame football 2024 recruiting class, as its 21st recruit and third wide receiver, comes roughly three weeks after three-star prospect Isiah Canion decommitted from ND.
Two days later, the Warner Robins, Ga., product selected Georgia Tech. And the Irish reopened their wide receiver board that still included four-star prospects Cam Williams (6-2, 180) and Micah Gilbert (6-3, 190).
The Irish remain fifth nationally in the 2024 Rivals team recruiting rankings.
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About that time, Saldate said he received a message via Instagram from Notre Dame director of recruiting Chad Bowden. The Irish hadn’t been involved in Saldate’s recruitment earlier, when he chose the Beavers over fellow finalists Arizona, Cal, Oklahoma State and Washington.
Once Saldate reciprocated the Irish interest, though, wide receivers coach Chansi Stuckey, offensive coordinator Gerad Parker and Freeman got involved.
“Coach Freeman and I actually bonded over wrestling,” Saldate said. “His kids wrestle (son Vinny was an Indiana state finalist as a freshman at nearby Penn High School this past winter), and my big brother, who’s now at Michigan State, was the No. 1 high school recruit for wrestling when he was a senior. So, it was pretty easy to have some talking points and bond over that stuff.”
Chase Saldate, incidentally, went 28-8 for the Spartans as a junior at 157 pounds this past season and reached the Round of 12 at the NCAA Championships in March. He was 53-0 at 152 pounds as a senior at Gilroy (Calif.) High and ranked No. 1 in the nation in that weight class. He’s also a big social media influencer, with a reported 400,000 followers on TikTok and another 100,000 on Instagram.
Logan also had the wrestling gene and competed competitively until his sophomore year in high school, giving it up to hone in on football and track and field.
In May, he finished second in the California state meet in the long jump, with a leap of 23 feet, 5 ½ inches. His best of 24-0.5 (a school record) earlier in the season would have been enough to win it. Saldate’s top times in the spring on the track were 10.82 seconds in the 100-meter dash (another school record) and 22.34 in the 200. Arizona State was among the schools that gauged his interest in pursuing that sport collegiately.
“I love track,” he said, “but that and wrestling were always about helping me be a better football player. It was always about football.”
The track numbers give some context to his football stats — 49 receptions for 827 yards and 12 touchdowns.
If all goes according to plan, Saldate will sign with the Irish in December but won’t enroll early, in January of 2024.
“As good as that sounds, my high school doesn’t want that,” Saldate said. “So it will be next June, but that doesn’t mean I can’t wait to get there.”
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