West Bloomfield Duo Excited By Notre Dame Offers

Thursday was a busy day at West Bloomfield High School as it relates to Notre Dame.

Irish defensive backs coach Todd Lyght visited the Michigan high school and left not one, but two scholarship offers for head coach Ron Bellamy’s players.

Notre Dame extended offers to 2020 safety Makari Paige‍ and his teammate, 2021 running back Donovan Edwards‍ (pictured above).

“When I broke the news to them that they were getting offered, both kids were super excited about it,” Bellamy said. “You look at ND and it’s one of the best programs in America when you’re talking about athletics and academics combined together. There aren’t too many that can stand on their level.”

Bellamy said the next step for both is “traveling.”

“The kids plan on visiting some schools and ND is one of the schools they plan on visiting in January,” he said.

Paige has been to South Bend before, but Edwards has not.

“It’ll be the first visit for Donovan,” Bellamy said.

Bellamy called the 5-foot-11, 193-pound sophomore a “special football player.”

“He’s dynamic,” the coach continued on Edwards. “He has the ability to make you miss. He has the ability to run over you and the ability to run away from you. I don’t care if you’re a ninth, 10th, 11th or 12th-grade prospect, there aren’t too many prospects who have all three of those facets to their game.”

It’s early, but Notre Dame is likely to appeal to Edwards, who also has offers from Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, Purdue and Kentucky among others.

“Donovan is a strong academic student, so he’s going to look for a school where he can be challenged in the classroom,” Bellamy said. “He’s also looking for a football program like our high school. We’re a brotherhood, we promote a family-like atmosphere and he wants to go to a school that’s winning.”

Paige was in South Bend back in March.

“Makari is a kid you can move all around,” his coach said. “He’s a natural hybrid who can play safety, corner and outside backer. He’s 6-3, 190 and he runs like a corner. That makes him really appealing and why he has a lot of big offers as well.”