Notre Dame Star Faison Seeking To Be Two-Sport National Champion

Notre Dame will be playing for the NCAA football national championship on Monday against Ohio State and the Fighting Irish will be able to call upon some impressive athletes in the school’s bid to earn the No. 1 ranking in the nation.

Sophomore Jordan Faison is proving to be a big-play wide receiver. In two seasons, he’s caught five touchdown passes and is averaging 34.5 yards per catch. He was the 2023 Sun Bowl MVP.

A midfielder with the Notre Dame lacrosse team, Faison scored 22 goals in 17 games this past season. He was sixth on the team in scoring with 30 points. Faison likes to refer to himself as a “flax” player - a football/lacrosse hybrid.

One of the top lacrosse recruits in the nation, he would earn his spot on the Notre Dame football team as a walk-on. Eventually, Faison was put on scholarship. 

Fellow wide receiver Tyler Buchner, an Alabama transfer, is also a midfielder on the Fighting Irish lacrosse team.

Notre Dame won the 2024 NCAA men’s lacrosse national title, so Faison and Buchner have a chance to be national champions in multiple sports.

Sophomore outside linebacker Drayk Bowen also plays infield for the Fighting Irish baseball team. Coming out of high school, he was ranked as the eighth-best baseball prospect in the state of Indiana by Prep Baseball Report.

They are carrying on a long-held tradition of multi-sport athletes at Notre Dame. Perhaps the most famous is Jeff Samardzjia. He would pitch 13 seasons in MLB, mainly with the Chicago Cubs. 

At Notre Dame, Samardzjia played both baseball and football. On the gridiron, he was twice a finalist for the Fred Biletnikoff Award, which goes to the NCAA’s best wide receiver. In 2005, Samardzjia caught 15 TD passes for the Fighting Irish.

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