Notre Dame Adds No. 1 Junior JT Cross to Bolster Loaded '27 Class

On Thursday afternoon, Prep Lacrosse's top-ranked junior, [player_tooltip player_id='23603' first='JT' last='Cross'], an attackman at Valor Christian (Colo.), announced his commitment to Notre Dame. The CO Kings and Mad Dog standout becomes the seventh Top 100 pledge in the Fighting Irish's 2027 class — with more expected to follow — after visiting South Bend this past weekend for the football team's anticipated matchup against Texas A&M.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-instagram wp-block-embed-instagram"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://www.instagram.com/p/DOwV93QAWSF/?img_index=1 </div></figure>   Cross, who was named an All-American in 2025 after putting up 53 goals and 32 assists, visited Notre Dame alongside two other five-star juniors: Haverford (Pa.) attackman Conor Morsell and Deerfield (Mass.) defender Leif Anderson. Both have since announced their intentions to suit up for the Irish, joining Loomis Chaffee (Conn.) defender Hayes Griffin, a Top 50 prospect and Georgia native who pledged after his mid-week trip.   Although Notre Dame may have been considered the favorite to land Cross heading into 9/1 — since both of his parents are alumni — his recruitment turned out to be more open than expected. The 6-foot-3, 180-pounder visited North Carolina on the first day of the contact period and was the only prospect from that group not to commit to the Tar Heels. He then visited Duke, Penn, and Georgetown before wrapping things up with his final visit to Notre Dame.   It was a chaotic recruiting process, Cross says, but ultimately, the school that he grew up rooting for felt like the best fit.   "The process was extremely hectic, and even more stressful, but at the same time, a dream come true," Cross wrote via text on Thursday. "Notre Dame felt like home to me, and I felt that I meshed with the school — the people I've met and the relationships I've built were amazing."   In South Bend, Cross will team up with Morsell, a lefty, and Prep Lacrosse's No. 15 junior Nick Lagunowich of Chatham, N.J. Like Cross, Lagunowich has family ties to the school, as his older brother is a student at Notre Dame. In terms of the attack trio's playing style and potential fit together, it's an ideal combination that could prove rather difficult for the opposition to defend.   Cross is the best fit to play the role of quarterback and puts a ton of pressure on opposing defenses with his size, athleticism, and dazzling skill set with the ball in his stick. Morsell, meanwhile, is used to having the ball in his stick but is just as dangerous without the ball and can thrive when taking advantage of less-than-stellar approaches or dodging off of ball movement. Among the three, Lagunowich might have the most attack/midfield flexibility and has the versatility to create offense from a variety of spots. Collectively, the trio put up over 250 points as sophomores, and they're just getting started.   At midfield, No. 35 junior Michael van Bastelaar (La Salle, Pa.) is among the most athletic players in the Class of 2027 and announced his commitment to the Irish just days into September. Although he missed a sizable portion of the summer due to injury, he has proven that he can separate at will and shoot on the run better than most of his peers. Christian Fox, a midfielder from CBA in New Jersey, announced his verbal to Notre Dame last week. At 6'3, he's another athletic specimen who is worth betting on, as his tape shows. A third midfield commit is expected to publicize their commitment in the coming days.   On the other side of the ball, the Fighting Irish prioritized Anderson's recruitment to headline the defensive class along with No. 44 recruit Jackson Gillis — a promising 6'5 goalie for Haverford (Pa.) and Team Ten — plus Griffin and Luke Denvir. Between Gillis and face-off recruit Kane Quenault, the Irish crushed their courtship of specialists and look to be in stellar shape going forward. Of course, this is all without going into greater detail about the embarrassment of riches that the Fighting Irish just enrolled in addition to the 5-star-laden class Kevin Corrigan's program has coming in next fall. So, this is all to say that they're not going away anytime soon.

On Thursday afternoon, Prep Lacrosse's top-ranked junior, JT Cross JT Cross 6'3" | 180 lbs | A | Right Hand Valor Christian | 2027 #1 Nation CO , an attackman at Valor Christian (Colo.), announced his commitment to Notre Dame. The CO Kings and Mad Dog standout becomes the seventh Top 100 pledge in the Fighting Irish's 2027 class — with more expected to follow — after visiting South Bend this past weekend for the football team's anticipated matchup against Texas A&M.