4-Star DE Julian Okwara Commits to Notre Dame!
Notre Dame picked up its fifth commitment in the class of 2016 (full Notre Dame commitment list) on Tuesday when Julian Okwara, the brother of current defensive end Romeo Okwara, selected the Irish over Georgia, Michigan, Ole Miss, and Clemson. As has become commonplace, the young Okwara made his announcement over Twitter.
For those having a hard time reading the text of his statement, here’s the full text:
After many months of research and visits I have decided to commit to play football at THE University of Notre Dame. Notre Dame felt like the right place for me to be academically and as a football player. With it being the top business school in America, it felt like the right place to further my education. Being on that campus opened up my eyes to many opportunities. Spending time with the players and coaches it felt like I was already part of the team up there. I am truly blessed. Thank you to all of the coaches who recruited me, this would never have happened without your belief in me. I would like to thank my parents for the countless hours of support and time they invested in me hoping I reach a point like this. I would to thank my coaches who also invested countless hours into my teammates and I. It’s a blessing to reach this point in my life and I can’t thank the people who helped me enough. Also my brothers who motvied me to be better at everything I do, no matter what it is. I would like to thank my teammates, we have spent many months working out through the hot summer days, through the good and the bad times, y’all are my brothers and I look forward to the future. Lastly I would like to thank my friends for the support, it never goes unnoticed. Lastly, #GoIrish.
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After announcing his five finalists, then announcing he would commit at the end of the month, and then moving that timeframe up two weeks all shortly after unofficially visiting Notre Dame; the Irish were believed to be the odds-on favorite for landing Okwara’s commitment on Tuesday – especially with his brother getting ready his senior season.
Okwara is considered a 4-star prospect across the services. Rivals lists him as the 179th rated prospect overall and #16 outside linebacker. 247 meanwhile has Okwara rated #290 overall in their rankings and #186 in their composite rankings.
With Okwara’s commitment, Notre Dame now has five commitments with Okwara being the second Julian of the bunch and on the defensive side of the ball joining defensive back Julian Love. The two Julians join offensive tackle Tommy Kraemer, running back Tony Jones, and long snapper John Shannon.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
The future is looking bright!
Thank you, Julian Okwara!
Great get….Go IRISH!!!
Woody
I have been a Irish fan since I was old enough to know who Notre Dame was. LOU HOltz,the Ara years. Back in the day Notre Dame wasn’t always on every Saturday Afternoon. I had to watch them play on highlights at 11:30 on Sundays. So many fond memories Joe Montana, Rocket Jerome Bettis just to name a few. Cotton Bowl in Dallas Notre Dame losing badly at the half. Joe Montana had a temperature of 103. Then I got to see my first of many games at Notre Dame versus Navy. Even though I was a Notre Dame fan you had to enjoy seeing the Navy walk accross Campus. Since that I have seen Notre Dame play alot at South Bend. I always took the train out of Rochester New York.. The alumni who went to the game told stories into the wee hours of the am. Just to listen to them talk about Knute and all the Irish legends. I am a Notre Dame fan in basketball,baseball, softball, hockey. I also follow the woman’s teams also. Their is nothing like a Saturday afternoon of Irish football. I am a Domer for life. Thanks Notre Dame I am truly blessed.
They are starting to build a very nice depth chart on the DL, much sounder and deeper than in the Diaco regime.
Here are the years into which the DLs can play
2017-Cage, Trumbetti, Hayes, Blankenship Hill
2018-Williams, Bonner, Mokwuah, Tillery
2019 Dew treadway, Tiassum, Taylor, Wallace
2020-assuming he redshirts, Okwara, Julian
This is high level stuff, the train has left the station and shattered the vile lie that represented the soft tyranny of low expectations “Notre Dame can not recruit defensive linemen.”