Recruiting Week In Review
Written by Joe Bradshaw
The College Football Playoff Championship game featured two very fast, athletic and opportunistic defenses and they both had their moments to shine. It was not only an impressive display but also very instructive of where schools with national title aspirations need to be headed, and it certainly appears that Notre Dame is. Their Class of 2018 defensive recruiting is among its best in a very, very long time with the possibility of adding still more impact players. The Irish also appear to be focusing very hard on defensive playmakers in the Class of 2019 as well. Last week Irish Sports Daily reported on two recruits that are among the best at their respective positions and would represent the kind of players that can continue the trend of building Notre Dame’s defense into a championship caliber unit. What have you been missing by not being a member of Irish Sports Daily?
Shammond Cooper, LB, 6-2, 195, Trinity Catholic High School, St. Louis, MO has held an Irish offer for ten months now. The four-star linebacker has consistently remained in touch with Notre Dame Linebackers’ Coach Clark Lea and Defensive Backs Coach Todd Lyght.
“They just told me about the program, how historic it is, academics and the historic tradition of football they have,” Cooper shared.
He has watched his offer list grow rapidly over the last few months to include, besides Notre Dame, LSU, Clemson, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Illinois, Florida, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin and numerous others. But even as his list has grown, the Irish have remained on Cooper’s short list.
“It’s the combination of sports and my education,” he said of why his interest in Notre Dame is so strong. “That’s so big. It’s one of the biggest universities there is for that.”
Cooper visited Notre Dame not long after initially receiving his offer and hopes to return very soon.
“I’m going to try to get there during their Junior Day or take a visit during the summer or spring,” he explained. “Having been on a visit already, I just want to get back down there and talk with the coaches face to face.”
In recruiting battles as difficult as Cooper’s is sure to be, it’s always nice to have some sort of edge, an ace in the hole. The Irish may just have that with someone very close to him.
“My father is really big on Notre Dame, he used to watch them growing up,” Cooper shared.
There’s still much about his recruitment that the Show-Me native has yet to work out but he does have some definite ideas about places he wants to go and schools he wants to see. In addition to the Irish, he lists Oklahoma, Clemson, Ohio State and Illinois as four schools in which there is considerable mutual interest. He’s already decided that he is going to take visits to at least two of the other four.
“I’m going to most definitely get down to Oklahoma and Clemson,” he said.
Cooper sees his best position in college as inside linebacker though he acknowledges that he’d be willing to move outside if that’s where he’s needed.
“I feel most comfortable at inside linebacker, but it doesn’t matter, I’d play outside linebacker too,” he said. “I’m looking for somewhere I can come in and fit in, where it’d be like a family atmosphere, have a bond with the coaching staff, a great bond.”
While Cooper is in the planning stages of his second trip to South Bend, NaNa Osafo-Mensah, DE, 6-4, 230, Nolan Catholic High School, Fort Worth, TX is planning his first. The four-star standout has developed a strong relationship with a number of the Irish coaches and is eager to meet them in person and see the school for which he already possesses very positive feelings.
“Notre Dame is a school I always cherished because it’s one of those top notch programs,” he explained. “It doesn’t just have one of the best football programs, but also offers one of the best educational programs in the country.”
Osafo-Mensah plans to get to Notre Dame as soon as possible.
“There’s a Junior Day coming up in January,” he said. “I’m going to look in and see if I can go to that. I just have to see if my family will be able to take the time off to go up there. If not, we’re planning on going there during spring break.”
Osafo-Mensah continued.
“I just want to see what the atmosphere is like up there because I’ve been to schools like LSU, A&M, TCU and all those schools. I just want to see what it’s like and if it’s a good fit for me and if I really enjoy the environment and atmosphere up there.”
Notre Dame’s strongest competition may well come from Texas A&M.
“I just really like the atmosphere down there because A&M is a place where it’s not just the players and coaches involved, but even the fan base, it’s amazng,” he shared. “That’s what I really love about A&M.”
Osafo-Mensah has also seen LSU and UCLA make strong pushes for him as of late.
“I’ve really been enjoying the love that’s been shown from LSU, that’s also been fun,” he said. “I’ve been really close with the coaches over at UCLA. I haven’t had the chance to meet Coach (Chip) Kelly yet, so I’m really looking forward to that opportunity.”
While Osafo-Mensah is planning to begin taking his official visits in the spring, he doesn’t yet have a firm timetable for a final decision. He intends to use the next few months to narrow his choices, looking at creating a finalists list by summer. While much is still up in the air, he’s confident of two schools that will be in his finalists.
“I’m pretty sure that Notre Dame and A&M will be two schools that will be in there.”
These two summaries represent just a sample of the Notre Dame football recruiting information available each week on Irish Sports Daily.