2026 DE Ebenezer Ewetade Talks Notre Dame Commitment

Ebenezer Ewetade‍ knew what he was coming to Notre Dame to do this weekend.

And on Saturday, the 2026 North Carolina defensive end did it, announcing his commitment to the Irish.

“They always just felt like family to me,” the South Garner High School standout told Irish Sports Daily.

“They never stopped recruiting me, even when I didn't have the offer. They just kept in contact with me, telling me things I always wanted to hear. They made me feel accepted. It really and truly feels like family.”

When Ewetade did land that offer during his first trip to South Bend back in February, Notre Dame surged to the top of the list.

That culminated in Saturday’s news. 

“I feel like they can make me a better person outside of football,” said Ewetade, who selected the Irish over offers from schools like Georgia, Florida State, Miami, Auburn, Alabama, Ohio State, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Duke and Wake Forest among several others.

The distance from North Carolina to South Bend certainly didn’t work against Notre Dame.

“This is a far place from home,” he said. “It gives me an opportunity to do stuff for myself. And historically, it's a good school with good academics, where I can get a good degree.”

Irish defensive line coach Al Washington made a huge impact.

“Coach Washington is a great coach,” he said. “That's exactly how I want to be coached, hard. That's a big reason I want to be coached by him.”

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman did as well.

“Coach Freeman's a real coach,” he said. “He's just himself.”

Ewetade made the trip out to South Bend with his South Garner classmate, offensive lineman Ekene Ogboko‍, who he will now target to join him at Notre Dame.

“Let's do it,” Ewetade said of his pitch to Ogboko. “Let's roll. Same thing that got me into them. I tell him about it. Hopefully I'll help him make his mind up.”

Either way, Ewetade is fired up about his own decision.

“I'm very excited. My family's very excited too. That's all that matters.”

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