Sapp Picks the Fighting Irish!
Frank Vitovitch
January 2, 1999

Fairfield, Connecticut - Notre Dame picked up their ninth verbal Friday when Fairfield Connecticut defensive lineman Jason Sapp pledged to the Irish.   Sapp is the type of speed defensive lineman that Notre Dame has not had in recent history. 

Just weeks ago, Notre Dame was not listed with Virginia Tech and Miami as one of favorites, but over Christmas they reappeared on his list. Friday he made it official that he is going to Notre Dame.  His mother was very much in favor of him attending Notre Dame, and it appears that she rubbed off on him since he is coming to Notre Dame.

This is a huge verbal for Notre Dame.  They already have Greg Pauly, who is a USA Today All-American, committed along with Kyle Budinscak from New Jersey.  Defensive line has been a problem area for Notre Dame in recent years with the Irish generating little pass rush.

Lamont Bryant, Brad Williams, and Antwon Jones all played their final game for Notre Dame this season against Stanford leaving a lot of room for playing time come next season.  Sophomores to be Cedric Hillard and Darrell Campbell are both expected to do big things in the near future.  The coaches all love Campbell, and the consensus opinions are that Campbell will be starting next season.

There is also a lot of young talent along the line.   Anthony Weaver had a terrific season as a freshman, but fell off his sophomore season at his new position.  Ryan Roberts and Andy Wisne both showed a lot of promise in brief stunts on the line along the season.  Add to the mix Grant Irons who will be a senior and Lance Legree who may return for a 5th year and the defensive line looks good for the 2000 season.

Sapp, a cousin to NFL All Pro Warren Sapp, choose not to go to Miami like his older cousin.  His family really liked Notre Dame, and when he sat down and looked at the pros and cons for each university, Notre Dame came out on top.

Sapp may not be ranked on people's top 100 lists but who cares?  Yeah, its nice to get those players, but what makes great teams are the players who came in not ranked high who haven't reached their potential yet.  Sapp is just this kind of player.  He has got 4.55 speed in the 40 which is excellent for a defensive linemen.  He is made of the same mold of Corey Moore from Virginia Tech who is not that large, but has great speed to get past the slow, bulky offensive linemen.

This is a huge commitment for Notre Dame.  Sapp adds to the class exactly what Notre Dame is going after this year - SPEED.  Technique can be taught.  You can teach a player how to throw, run a good route, or how to get past an offensive linemen, but you can't teach speed.  You either have it or you don't and Sapp's got it.

Sapp is the third defensive lineman recruit that Notre Dame has got a verbal from this year.  He joins Kyle Budinscak from New Jersey and All American Greg Pauly.  Notre Dame will still get at least 1 more defensive lineman as well.  Anthony Crosson, Bobby Williams, Kevin Ely, and Bernie Mills are all looking at Notre Dame closely.  Take a look at the Defensive Line Prospect List for a more detailed look at the rest of the DL's ND is in on.