2027 RB Mikel Stephen Feels Blessed To Have Notre Dame Offer
Mikel Stephen hadn’t heard much at all from Notre Dame before the Irish offered him last month.
But the 2027 Mississippi running back knew enough about Notre Dame for the offer to mean a lot to him.
“It's a blessing because Notre Dame has always been one of my dream schools,” the 5-foot-10, 180-pounder told Irish Sports Daily. “In my opinion, it's one of the best schools in the country and I feel like that could be a fact just because it'll make you a better person on and off the field. It's got some of the best academics in the country by far, and the football is great.
“They should have made the Playoffs.”
The Madison Central High School star saw Notre Dame Director of Recruiting Carter Auman followed him on Twitter and eventually hopped on a phone call with Auman and running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider, who extended the offer.
“They wanted to offer me because they loved my film,” Stephen said. “I had a great GPA and then I had a good score on the ACT. It was eye candy for them when they watched my film as well. So they pretty much liked everything about me.”
Stephen’s initial impressions of Auman and Seider were “great.”
“I just loved their energy,” he said. “Definitely the type of coach I want to be coached by. Carter, he just matched my energy and he had me hyped when I was on the phone with him. It just made me excited about the whole situation, so I really just love those guys.”
Stephen’s early offer sheet also includes schools like Arkansas, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia State, Mississippi State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Ole Miss.
He isn’t going to wait very long to start diving into learning more about Notre Dame.
“I'm supposed to be going to their Junior Day next month,” he said. “I'll be down there next month for sure, and I'll be down there a lot more after that.”
He’s hoping to find a potential fit while on campus.
“Just a great, positive environment with great people, people who want to see me succeed in whatever I do,” Stephen said of what he’s hoping to see during the trip.
“I just want to feel like I'm in a new family that's going to help me do great things in life.”
He’s already been to schools like Florida State, Ole Miss and Florida and hopes to check out Ohio State, Michigan, USC, Clemson and Georgia this coming year.
It’s early, but Stephen already knows what will matter most when it’s time for him to choose a school.
“The most important thing at the end of the day is the school that's going to help me become a better man for life more than football,” he said. “All these schools can make me a better athlete, but football ain't going to last forever, so it's whoever can just make me a better man off the field.
“That's really what it's going to come down to and obviously where's the best fit for me offensively.”
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