2022 DL Hero Kanu Talks Notre Dame Visit & What's Next

Hero Kanu‍ has been excited about Notre Dame since being offered by the Irish a few weeks ago. After getting to South Bend earlier this week, the 2022 defensive lineman is even more intrigued by Notre Dame.

“It was awesome,” the 6-foot-5, 295-pounder told Irish Sports Daily. “One of the most beautiful schools, I've ever seen. It was amazing. As soon as I stepped on campus, it was like 'Wow.'”

Originally from Germany, Kanu is currently attending school and playing for Santa Margarita Catholic High School in California.

While in South Bend, he spent time with Irish defensive line coach Mike Elston, defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman and head coach Brian Kelly.

“It was great,” said Kanu. “Coach Elston and Coach Kelly, it was super fun talking to them and talking to the defensive coordinator. It was more getting to know them than football because of my recruiting starting so late, it's really important for all of us to build that relationship and I think we did a great job.”

Kanu learned more about the school and the program.

“They just told me a little bit more about the school itself, the degree, alumni,” he said. “Then of course, I got to see everything.”

Kanu is part of PPI Recruits and the organization, which helps match European players with American college programs, had a group in South Bend coinciding with Kanu’s visit.

“The whole PPI crew was there,” Kanu said. “It's like a family; being away from your family, but having other people that count as family is very important.”

And it was a reunion of sorts with current Notre Dame defensive lineman Alexander Ehrensberger, who is also part of the PPI family.

“I got to hang out with him for a bit,” Kanu said of Ehrensberger. “It was a great day.

“For him, I think a big thing was that he was able to speak German again. I really enjoyed the time with all of us.”

Having another PPI player in South Bend certainly won’t hurt Notre Dame’s pursuit of Kanu, but is just one factor he’ll be considering.

“If you know people there, if you have a good relationship, what can the school do for you, how stable is the program, how's the culture and how are people treating each other, all of that will influence my decision,” said Kanu, who has an extremely impressive offer sheet that includes schools like Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Clemson, Ohio State, Michigan, Texas, Texas A&M, USC and UCLA among several others.

The Irish are certainly among one of his favorites now and he locked in a date to return for an official visit before departing.

“I'm going to come up for the game against USC,” he said. “I just want to see the game atmosphere, how it is, see a game in person. Coaches always talk about how it is, but I want to see it in person.”

Kanu also has officials set for Ohio State, Oklahoma and Georgia.

Kanu and the PPI crew stopped in Columbus to visit with the Buckeyes after South Bend.

“It was great too,” Kanu said of that stop. “It was a random decision to go there, but we made it. It was more of a BBQ. We played dodgeball, we played some basketball. I got to meet all of the recruits and we had a workout session with Coach (Larry) Johnson again. It was great meeting them all again.”

Kanu will sign with the school of his choice during the early December signing period and make that decision public at the All-American Bowl on Jan. 8th.