Miami Palmetto defensive lineman Davion Dixon became Notre Dame’s first commitment in the 2025 class when he announced an impromptu pledge to the Irish April 21, 2023. In total, Dixon has been to South Bend seven times, which included an official visit a weekend ago.
Dixon has pretty much seen it all when it comes to a Notre Dame recruiting visit. The all-expenses paid official visit offered a whole new experience for him, though.
“It was a lot more fun than an unofficial,” Dixon told Blue & Gold. “On Saturday (June 15), we had a photoshoot, and it was legit. It was a 10 out of 10.
“We had a good time, chilling with everyone, vibing, cracking jokes, hanging out with the players — it was special to us and me.”
One difference between an official and unofficial is that during an official visit, the coaches can take the recruits and their families off campus. Dixon and the others in town for the OV weekend went out to Marcus Freeman’s house for a few hours.
“That was amazing,” said Dixon. “We were fishing, playing basketball and ate some good food. It was nice.”
Dixon has a strong connection with the Notre Dame staff, including Freeman and defensive line coach Al Washington.
“It was all fun,” Dixon said about his talks with Washington. “We were chatting, talking about how I can improve my game and how I can become a better player at Notre Dame.
“Our relationship gets tighter every time I go up there. I love him; he loves me. He can get after me, but that’s part of the job. He wants to make me into a better person and a man, and I love him for that.”
“[Coach Freeman] was checking on me and my family, seeing how things are going. He introduced me to his wife and kids. They’re awesome people.”
There were a handful of other commits on campus, and Dixon, who ranks as the No. 738 overall recruit and No. 66 defensive lineman in America per the 2025 On3 Industry Ranking, loved hanging out with his future teammates.
Dixon hopes that one of his future teammates is in fact Ivan Taylor, a safety from Winter Garden (Fla.) West Orange who has been visiting other schools this month. He officially visited Alabama two weekends ago and is checking out Michigan during the time this article was published.
“I had spent time with Ivan on previous visits, but we got to hang out with each other all day — cracking jokes and having fun,” he said.
Dixon feels confident that Taylor will stick with his Fighting Irish pledge and didn’t shy away from letting Taylor know that he should do so.
“I told him that he doesn’t have to go on those visits; he can just stay here,” said Dixon. “I said, ‘Notre Dame can set you up; our safety room produces first round draft picks and you can be another one.’ I don’t worry about it too much because he’s not going to leave. He’s going to stay for sure.
“And you can put that in all caps, too.”
Dixon picked up offers from Georgia, Ohio State and others after committing to Notre Dame and was considering opening up his recruitment and taking some visits, but in the spring, Dixon decided to completely shut things down and stick with his Irish pledge.
“I’m ND for life,” he said.
Dixon will enroll early at Notre Dame.
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