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Notre Dame Football Recruiting

2019 Texas LB Hoping To Hear From ND

April 10, 2017
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Schools are starting to take notice of NaNa Osafo-Mensah and it’s clear they like what they see from the 2019 Texas linebacker.

Barely a month ago, Osafo-Mensah didn’t have any offers and now, the 6-foot-4, 217-pounder from Nolan Catholic High School counts Texas A&M, Baylor, Georgia, Utah and Colorado among the schools who have extended scholarship offers.

“It feels really good,” the Fort Worth native said. “Honestly, it helps me grow more motivation to keep working, keep grinding on my performance to become better and better each time I’m in the weight room, in the classroom, wherever I am really.”

He’s excited to put in the work to improve.

“I’m really focusing on hip flexibility to be able to move more in space when I’m dropping into coverage,” the talented sophomore said. “At the same time, I’m working on being able to gain a little bit more weight while trying to maintain my speed.”

The schools that have already offered like the versatility Osafo-Mensah brings to the position.

“They’ve been talking to me about how they like how I can rush off the edge in a pass rush situation, but also play a position in space where I can drop into coverage and cover the flats and still make plays,” he said.

He’s had the chance to visit some regional schools like Texas A&M, Baylor, Oklahoma and Tulsa and will head to the West Coast to check out UCLA and USC soon.

“They’ve been really great experiences,” he said of the trips he’s taken so far. “It’s allowed me to see what it is like to play in college and see the different aspects of how the jump from high school football to college football even from being in practice and then going to film studies. The whole preparation is just completely different.”

Osafo-Mensah credits his head coach at Nolan Catholic, Dave Beaudin, for being a positive influence during a process that continues to gain steam.

“He’s been always helping me whether it’s just talking to me about colleges or helping me with my work ethic anywhere it is,” he said of Beaudin. “He’s been a really big mentor for me.”

Osafo-Mensah has also received some interest from Stanford and the Cardinal could end up on a summer itinerary.

“I’m planning on going to a Stanford camp this summer, possibly an SMU camp and some other ones I may come across,” he said.

Osafo-Mensah doesn’t expect to make a decision until around this time next year or perhaps even later, but he does have an idea of what he’s looking for in a college.

“I just really look at what I can do in case football doesn’t work out for me,” he said. “I’m really interested in going into either Business or Law, so I look at that and try to see which school I can go to get the best education in case anything bad happens to me in football.”

That’s part of the reason why Osafo-Mensah also has his eyes on Notre Dame, but only part of the reason.

“I really just know about the Catholic aspect of Notre Dame,” he said. “I’ve been going to Catholic school since about fifth grade and I really do like it, especially the whole value of how they really support the Theology aspect of it. I’ve always been a fan of that. Notre Dame has always been one of my favorites when it comes to the Catholic schools in the nation.”

Osafo-Mensah hasn’t heard much from the Irish yet, but said he would “definitely” be interested in the school and would love to visit South Bend at some point.

 
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