Longtime Irish DE Commit Armel Mukam Gets First Look At Notre Dame

Armel Mukam‍ committed to Notre Dame back in August, but the 2023 defensive end had never visited South Bend until the Irish’s final home game of the season.

The Canadian, who attends Woodberry Forest School in Virginia, took his official visit to Notre Dame for the Boston College game a couple weeks ago.

“It went really well,” Mukam told Irish Sports Daily. “I really enjoyed my time in South Bend.”

He arrived on Friday.

“First day, I toured the campus,” he explained. “We went to the Grotto, Basilica, the church. We toured the weight room. I had a presentation with Coach (Matt) Balis. I talked to the nutritionist.”

The game was on Saturday, but he had more important meetings before kickoff.

“I met with Adam Sargent, who is charge of the athletes and academics,” he said. “I met with Admissions about my application.

“Then, it was the game. I had a lot of fun. I got the chance to connect with a bunch of other recruits. After the game, that night, I ate dinner with Coach (Al) Washington and his wife and Chad (Bowden) and his girlfriend. It was really fun.

“Then, the last day I met with Coach (Marcus) Freeman. Coach Freeman ate breakfast with all the coaches and then I left.”

He also enjoyed the chance to meet some of his future teammates in person.

“It was really fun,” said Mukam. “We have a group chat for our class, but talking to them face to face and getting a chance to see their real personality was really fun. I really enjoyed my time with them.”

Mukam was taking a bit of a leap of faith when he flipped his commitment from Stanford to Notre Dame during the summer without having visited.

“I knew Notre Dame was going to be a great fit for me when I committed,” he said. “I was 100 percent sure. And when I left South Bend, I was like, 'Alright, this is really home and I really made the right decision.'”

He’s looking forward to making it official with National Signing Day in a few weeks before arriving in South Bend for good next summer.

“I'm really pumped. I'm really excited. I'm ready to make everything official. Really seeing that Notre Dame is going to be home for the next three or four years, it's going to be an exciting time.”

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