Notre Dame Picks up Commitment from Prince Shembo

Notre Dame picked up commitment #14 on the year on Tuesday when OLB/DE Prince Shembo selected Notre Dame over North Carolina, Virginia Tech, and Tennessee.  Irish Sports Daily broke the story earlier today and has an excellent video interview posted in which Shembo explains why he selected Notre Dame.  Shembo stressed academics as a reason why he selected Notre Dame in the interview.

Shembo is the second linebacker in this class from the State of North Carolina – joining Kendall Moore.  He told ISD that he was recruited by the Irish staff as an outside linebacker, but at 6’2″ and 232 lbs entering his senior year of high school, it’s possible that he could grow into a defensive end.  If he does indeed grow into a DE, he would join Chris Martin and Blake Lueders as defensive ends in this class.  If he sticks at linebacker, he and Moore are the only linebackers committed thus far.

Where Shembo projects could impact the recruitment of Chance Carter who is said to be visiting Notre Dame this week.  If Shembo projects as a DE down the line to the staff do they take another end in Carter?  It’s a tough call for the staff to make, but it’s also an excellent position to be in when you consider that last year the Irish failed to sign a single defensive end.

In Shembo, Notre Dame has an excellent defensive prospect with a high ceiling.  He’s a little but in the Kerry Neal mold which is why I think he might eventually grow into a defensive end.

Now the Shembo is committed to Notre Dame, he says his recruitment is over and he will only be taking an official visit to Notre Dame.

He’ll be trekking back to Notre Dame on an official visit for the USC game on October 17. He’s fully aware that he has five officials available, but he only plans on using one.

“I’m only taking one to Notre Dame,” he said of his intentions to attend the game against rival Southern Cal. “I’m staying solid. It’s like a marriage. I’m fully committed to them. Decommitting says a lot about someone’s character, and I’m a man of my word.”

One of the more interesting comments I’ve found from Shembo about his commitment were his thoughts on South Bend.   While many feel that South Bend and the surrounding area is negative factor working against Notre Dame, Shembo told Irish Illustrated he was impressed with the city.

I thought it was gonna be in like the middle of nowhere, looking like Duke’s campus. I didn’t like Duke’s campus at all,” Shembo said. “When I went up there it was a little town, kind of like Salisbury, North Carolina. Not in the middle of nowhere. The campus was beautiful. And the facilities, I thought everything was gonna be old, like super-old. But it was brand new.

Corwin Brown was Shembo’s main recruiter giving Notre Dame’s assistant head coach three of this year’s 14 commitments along with Lo Wood and Kendall Moore.  After a slower year from Brown last year on the recruiting front, its nice to see him cleaning up on the defensive side of the ball again this year.