Notre Dame Gets Attention of 2024 DL Jide Abasiri

2024 Prior Lake (Minn.) defensive lineman Jide Abasiri‍ made the trip to Notre Dame on Saturday for Junior Day and he figured it’d be like most college visits. 

The 6-foot-6, 270--pounder quickly found out Notre Dame was different in many ways from his other visits, including the willingness of the coaching staff to dive into life outside of football. 

“The number one thing that surprised me the most is the coaches not just talking about football but also what comes after football,” Abasiri told ISD. “A lot of the times when you’re on visits, you’re just bombarded with all the campus life and benefits of being a college athlete.

“But the coaches went into a lot of detail about building relationships and what being an athlete at Notre Dame sets you up for. That was just really great to see that they set you up for life.” 

Abasiri spent a ton of time with Notre Dame defensive line coach Al Washington, which include a film session and a conversation about development. 

“Coach Washington told me I had a lot of potential and Notre Dame would help me reach that potential and develop my skills,” stated Abasiri. 

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman also spent some one-on-one time with the massive defensive lineman. The message hit home more than Freeman knew as it centered around Abasiri’s future and how Notre Dame can help him prepare for life. 

“Coach Freeman was amazing,” Abasiri said. “We talked about the ‘then what’ after football and how Notre Dame prepares you for the ‘then what.’”

The Minnesota native also came away impressed with Notre Dame’s facilities and the other bells and whistles recruits experience when on campus. 

“The whole campus is amazing,” Abasiri stated. “The facilities the stadium the coaches everything there is just top tier.” 

Abasiri also was able to get a feel for Notre Dame’s 2024 recruiting class as most of the commits were on campus. The ability to interact and also see how they interacted with others left a lasting impression. 

“I didn’t really talk to many of the commits there although they all seemed like this is a place they wanted to be,” said Abasiri. “Seeing them and how they interacted with the staff and other people made me feel like these are the type of people I could fit in with.” 

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