Relentless lockdown corner Ace Alston is evolving into a multi-dimensional threat, leveraging an elite work ethic and receiver-driven training to dominate Ohio’s high school gridiron before heading to South Bend.
Notre Dame continued its elite secondary recruiting when it landed a commitment from 2027 cornerback Ace Alston. The Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson star is one of the nation's best cover players, and he was an early favorite of former secondary coach Mike Mickens. New secondary coach Aaron Henry has also worked hard to make sure Alston remains in the class, helping the Irish retain one of the best cover players in the country.
Anderson head coach Evan Dreyer knew that Alston was special from a very young age, with his work ethic standing out from the beginning.
"Ace, he works out before school, he works out after school, then he has speed trainers and DB trainers,” Dreyer said of the consensus four-star, Class of 2027 recruit. "His dad played receiver, so his dad does receiver training with him. That’s the part where people are going to see him his senior year, he’s going to be impactful in all aspects of the game.”
Alston has been that way during all three years of his high school career so far, and has no plans to change heading into his senior season and the future at Notre Dame.
"I do think his work ethic is what’s contagious," Dreyer explained. "He’s all-time high effort, in practice, in competitive nature. The first thing that comes off with Ace is he’s not going to wait in line. He’s not going to stand still and wait for the older guys to say ‘Do this.’ He’s going to jump in and compete.
"One of the most remarkable things about him is that he has a quality of competitive nature," continued Dreyer. "His technique and fundamentals are above and beyond his age. He was very adamant he was going to start varsity as a freshman, and he did that. He’s been the ringleader of consistency and style of play we want."
Playing varsity football in the Buckeye State is a challenge, especially at a program like Anderson, where the Raptors have lost just two games in two years to the same opponent at the same time: the Class 2A state championship game against Avon. Being a four-year varsity starter at Ohio’s second-highest class is a worthy accomplishment, and Dreyer believes Alston has been the key driver behind their success.
"I think the biggest thing is like, he’s been so contagious because of playing in OT7 and being a part of our summer where losing is unacceptable," Dreyer related. "As coaches we all want to play 11-on-11 and be successful, but in that summer season where you’re seeing where you’re at and what buttons to push, he’s been very adamant that we want to win at everything we do. As I watch our team, the competitive nature, the ability to win, the willingness to step in different roles to help us win, has definitely paid off for us."
Alston may not have an impressive stat line as far as interceptions go, but Dreyer insists that Notre Dame fans watch the tape before drawing conclusions. Interceptions are hard to come by when opposing teams respect his coverage skills so much that they rarely throw the ball his way.
"When you talk about playing varsity football, I think it was right from the first scrimmage where he made every open field tackle,” Dreyer noted. "For corners the game is, ‘Can he play man to man, can he play zone, does he have great ball skills?’ To me one of Ace’s best things that nobody talks about is his physicality, and his ability to get off blocks is elite. I think that’s where I always say to myself, ‘How does he impact the game?’ There’s a lot of tape where you can watch and see it.”
Alston’s game – as far as stats – may receive a significant boost in 2026. To beat Avon and finally capture a state championship, the staff plans to use Alston more creatively to make sure he’s impacting the game.
"We need to make sure he’s impactful on where he’s at on the field,” Dreyer said. "The key part is that … what can we do to make sure he impacts the game at an all-time high? He’s prepared to play different spots if needed. He can impact the game throughout it so they can’t take him out of it. We have to do better job as coaches in the final game.
"He’s going to play both ways,” he added. "We’ve tried our best to make sure he’s healthy every game. His ability to play in 46 games in three years has been crucial to our success. Don’t look at the stats, look at the success and what he’s done to our defense. We’re a top 10 defense in Ohio because of what he’s been able to bring.”
Dreyer has a message for the Notre Dame faithful: what Alston brings to the table at Anderson will be even more evident for what he can bring to Notre Dame and head coach Marcus Freeman.
"What he brings off the field is a mentality that being second best is going to be unacceptable at Notre Dame,” explained the Anderson head coach. "He’s going there to win a national championship and nothing else matters. On the field I would tell everybody that he’s going to have NFL-type fundamentals from the stance, to ball security and ability … that’s the one thing that people don’t understand. He was trained and has to play at a high level with NFL-type skill sets. His skills and fundamentals are going to be able to be shown each practice. If you’re a Notre Dame fan, he can play early on due to all the basic skills he has developed. He has an elite skill level that Marcus wants.”
That would explain why the Notre Dame coaches worked so hard to land Alston in the first place, and worked so hard to keep him after the coaching change.
Alston is ranked as the nation's No. 72 overall player by Rivals/On3 and is ranked as the No. 4 player in the state of Ohio. 247Sports ranks him as the third best player in the Buckeye State and ranks him as the No. 96 overall player in the country. Both outlets rank the Anderson star as the No. 11 cornerback in the entire country.
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