Notre Dame has a number of elite college football recruits on campus this weekend for the annual Irish Invasion. Long time commitments like the Ademilola twins and uncommitted prime time targets like their St. Peter’s Prep team Shayne Simon are all on hand. A local product, Paul Moala, who came into the weekend without an offer; and three star defensive end from New Jersey have been stealing the show so far this weekend based on early reports.
Paul Moala Lands Notre Dame Offer
Heading into Saturday’s camp in Notre Dame Stadium, Paul Moala did not have a Notre Dame offer. On his way home to near by Mishwaka, he will have one. Moala, a Penn High School rising senior, performed well enough on Saturday for Brian Kelly to extend an offer to him.
The 6-1, 190 lbs safety ran a reported hand timed 4.46 40 yard dash. Even with the recent addition of Navy transfer Alohi Gilman, Moala’s performance was enough for Notre Dame to extend a scholarship offer.
Pete Sampson of Irish Illustrated went so far as to call Moala the “surprise of the Irish Invasion.”
The surprise of Irish Invasion? Local safety Paul Moala, who got offered. He talked to Irish Illustrated. https://t.co/YFnwWPXddP pic.twitter.com/LwtvundVjp
— Pete Sampson (@PeteSampson_) June 11, 2017
Before getting his offer from Notre Dame, Moala’s offer listed included the likes of Bowling Green, Ball State, Hawaii, and Iowa. Next on Moala’s agenda, however is another camp at rival Stanford. Iowa was the first Power 5 conference school to offer Moala. That offer came just last week after he impressed them at one of their camps. He’s now two for two. Will he make that three for three at Stanford?
Notre Dame has reportedly been the local products dream offer so it will be interesting to see how this changes his recruitment. Notre Dame had to know that going into extending the offer and they had to know that there was a chance he would commit on the spot or shortly after. Knowing that and extending the offer now shows the staff is convinced in his talent.
It should not surprise anyone if this one ends sooner rather than later and ends in Notre Dame’s favor. If only the staff had done the same with local product Russ Yeast last year…
DE Jayson Oweh Grabs Attention
Notre Dame needs to add more pass rushers in this class. Jayson Oweh from Blair Academy in New Jersey showed at the Irish Invasion that he has the raw tools to become a legit pass rusher on the college level. In fact, here is what Coach D from Blue & Gold Illustrated had to say about Oweh on Saturday night.
Not sure there's a DE in the country with more natural tools than @JaysonOweh. Kid has elite upside, perfect for ND's drop spot and DE spot.
— Bryan Driskell (@CoachD178) June 11, 2017
Greg pointed to Oweh as one to watch this weekend and he was dead on. While everyone will tell you that Oweh is still very raw, he is an athletic freak who would be a perfect addition to Notre Dame’s class along with his fellow New Jersey natives Justin and Jayson Ademilola and nose tackle Ja’Mion Franklin who committed earlier this week.
Oweh has picked up offers from Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Penn State all in the last month. While he currently holds a 3-star rating from the 247 composite rankings, those three offers right there indicate that a 4th star will likely be coming at some point. So will more scholarship offers after the three he just got.
According to reports out of South Bend, Oweh ran a 4.57 40 yard dash on Saturday. That is the kind of speed Notre Dame just hasn’t had at the defensive end position in recent years.
There are no indications that Oweh’s recruitment will end anytime soon, but there are indications that Notre Dame is making Oweh a priority. Saturday showed why they are doing that.
Ball State, Bowling Green and Hawaii… not Alabama, USC or Florida State material. This article perfectly sums up what’s wrong with Notre Dame football and Brian Kelly.
He went to Iowa last week and left with an offer. He went to Notre Dame this weekend and left with an offer. He is going to Stanford later this month for a camp as well and at this rate, will probably leave with an offer. How many times has Notre Dame been early in on a recruit only to see their offer list blow up after?
When Paulson Adebo committed he was a 3-star prospect and people complained about his offer list, just like you are now with Moala’s offer list. When Adebo decommitted in January and went to Stanford everyone freaked out about how big a loss he was. How about we let things play out before insinuating a kid isn’t good enough for a Notre Dame offer?
No, it perfectly sums up with fans thinking they understand how this work. It sums up folks who are caught with start rankings and not player development.
Kelly has brought in 5* players who have and haven’t done anything and 3* guys who have been fantastic. Stop getting caught up in the hype and look at the player.
Would you have liked to have 2* JJ Watt at ND? 3* Russell Wilson? 3* Marcus Mariota? Do you know how many stars Western Michigan WR and 5th overall pick Corey Davis had
coming out of HS?
OH…and you remember Bama picking up Gehrig Dieter as a grad transfer? Did he have an offer from Bama coming out of HS? And the WR who killed Bama in 2 straight title games was
a walk-on. Just let the kids develop…then berate the staff. If you must…
Paul Moala’s got quite the hair style, lol. Looks like Little Richard on steroids. 🙂