I have visited Notre Dame on a number of occasions. Once for baseball, twice for hockey and once for a football game. I was amazed/stunned by a number of things:
1. South Bend is horrible -- a bulldozer (several hundred of them, actually) would provide great improvement.
2. The weather is worse than the city.
3. I thought the baseball stadium was much better than described above.
4. The weather was beyond horrible in both March/April.
5. The football stadium is magical.
6. About two thirds of the campus is great. The other third fits extremely well into South Bend.
7. The weather was worse than the town.
8. Notre Dame obviously is a great school, but not so great for a top player with other choices. I remain amazed by the job done Paul Manieri and doubt it will be matched any time soon.
9. The alumni network, while impressive, probably does not do so well when it comes to professional baseball, if that is a later option.
10. Because of all of the above, I would be surprised if they ever equal their former standing in football. Too many other great options for great players in places with far, far better weather in far, far better cities.