Boubacar Traore

Boubacar Traore (born October 24, 2004 ) is an American college football defensive end for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Early life Traore is from Boston, Massachusetts. His brother, Badara, played college football for the LSU Tigers and later was a member of the Arizona Cardinals in the NFL. He attended Catholic Memorial School in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, where he played football as a defensive end and tight end. He grew from and to and by his junior year, becoming one of Catholic Memorial's top players. He was named first-team all-state as a senior and was invited to the All-American Bowl. A four-star recruit and a top-150 recruit nationally, he committed to play college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He became a starter in 2024 after an injury to Jordan Botelho and recorded a 34-yard interception return touchdown against Purdue in the third game of the season. He was the team's leader in sacks (3) and tackles-for-loss (5) before suffering a season-ending knee injury in the fifth game of the season.

College statistics Year Team GP Tackles Interceptions Fumbles Total Solo Ast Sack PD Int Yds TD FF FR TD 2023 Notre Dame 5 1 1 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2024 Notre Dame 5 11 8 3 3.0 0 1 34 1 1 0 0 2025 Notre Dame 11 37 23 14 6.5 0 0 0 0 1 0 0Career 21 49 32 17 10.5 0 1 34 1 3 0 0