Big-Time 2022 ATH Kaden Saunders Hoping To Visit Notre Dame Soon

Kaden Saunders‍ is just finishing up his freshman year of high school, but is already clear the 2022 Ohio athlete is going to be one of the top prospects in his class.

The 5-foot-11, 160-pounder already has offers from Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, Nebraska, West Virginia and Indiana.

“It’s a blessing,” Saunders said. “I’ve been dreaming about this since I was a little kid. For all of it to be coming true, it’s just surreal to me and I’m just trying to soak it all in right now.”

The Westerville South High School standout was clocked at 4.4 in the 40-yard dash at the Best of the Midwest Combine earlier this year. Most schools are recruiting him as a receiver, but Ohio State is interested in seeing what he can do at cornerback, so Saunders will likely play some defense this fall as well.

Notre Dame has also shown early interest with assistant coach Mike Elston making a recent stop.

“He came into school and gave my coach the camp dates and his card,” said Saunders. “Then, I called him and he said I should come to campus as soon as I can and everything will work out from there.

“It feels amazing that Notre Dame is looking at me. They were in the College Football Playoff last year and obviously they’re a great school and produce great players.”

Saunders is looking for a date that will work with his summer baseball schedule to get to South Bend.

“Once I find a day during the week that I can get up there, I’m trying my hardest,” he said. “I heard their campus is really nice. (Top 2021 prospect) Lorenzo Styles has been up there multiple times, so he must really like it, which would probably mean I’d like it too. I haven’t talked with him in a while, but I’ll talk with him about what he likes. I’ve heard it’s an overall great school.”

He’ll be trying to get a feel for the bond between the players and the coaches during the trip.

He’s already made visits to Penn State, Michigan State, Ohio State and most recently West Virginia.

“I’m going to try to find dates to get to Michigan,” he said. “I’m also trying to find a date to go to Purdue as well. I’m going to try to go to Notre Dame and Purdue at the same time.”

There are a few factors he already knows he’ll be looking at closely when it comes time to make a decision.

“Some things that I’m looking for, obviously my relationship with my position coach, do they produce good young men past college, education is a big part for me and my family. My mom is really big on education.”