4-Star DE NaNa Osafo Mensah Sets Notre Dame Official
Notre Dame’s defensive line class for 2019 is off to an excellent start. The Irish will be hoping to add to that haul next month when they will officially host another 4-star defensive lineman – Dallas native NaNa Osafo Mensah.
Notre Dame Official Visit☘️April 13-15 w/ my brother @Thehunterspears ??☘️ pic.twitter.com/JiCD7n3ajD
— NaNa Osafo-Mensah (@NaNaOsafo2) February 26, 2018
The brother Osafo-Mensah is referencing is Notre Dame commitment and fellow defensive lineman Hunter Spears. Spears committed to Notre Dame last week joining Jacob Lacey to give Notre Dame a pair of 4-star defensive line commits for 2019. The Irish will be hoping that Osafo-Mensah becomes #3 on his visit.
NaNa Osafo-Mensah is a 4-star defensive end prospect from Dallas, Texas. 247Sports ranks him as the #7 weakside defensive end in the country and the #110 overall prospect regardless of position. Weakside DE was the one position that Notre Dame swung and missed on in the class of 2018 making this a rather important early official visit for the class of 2019.
Osafo-Mensah also has offers from Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, and USC among a host of other big time programs. In short, he is a big-time talent who can play pretty much anywhere he wants to.
This won’t be the first time NaNa Osafo-Mensah will be on Notre Dame’s campus. He was on hand for Notre Dame’s successful Junior Day at the end of January.
Nothing I didn’t Love about the Irish, I’ll be back☘️☘️ #FightClub19 #DLU pic.twitter.com/Mzje9pkfEU
— NaNa Osafo-Mensah (@NaNaOsafo2) January 28, 2018
Notre Dame did an excellent job getting a lot of talented defensive linemen on campus that weekend. At the time, only Lacey was the only defensive lineman committed, but since then Spears joined him, and now Osafo-Mensah is making a return visit. This time for an official visit now that recruits can take official visits in the spring.
Remember, this is the first year that recruits can take official visits between April and June. Previously official visits couldn’t take place until September of the recruit’s senior season.
There’s a lot of positive momentum here for Notre Dame obviously with the defensive linemen who visited in January all hitting it off and now Osafo-Mensah visiting Notre Dame officially along with the Irish’s most recent commitment Hunter Spears. Should Notre Dame made a major move here, it would obviously be huge for Notre Dame.
According to 247Sports, NaNa Osafo-Mensah will announce his college decision on May 19.
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
Sweet music to Na Nas ears. Have a feeling we’ll be singing that a lot.
Can we all sing “NANA NA NA, NANA NA NA, hey hey hey goodbye” if he gets a sack in the last 2 minutes of a game?
BGC
La Crosse, Indiana
Duranko, lighten up. Good gravy.
Go Irish!
Marty
‘88
Was just watching, listening to the Silhouettes when my Wife walks in , grabs me by the arm and She starts teaching me the east coast swing. Perhaps NaNa will come to South Bend with His moves and take the Fighting Irish to to the Big Dance.
Nana is a name proudly used in Ghana. That is a fact
Nana Osafo Mensah’s parents are from Ghana.
That is one of the reasons he was hosted by Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. His ancestors are from Ghana.
ETHNOCENTRICISM—evaluation of other cultures according to preconceptions originating in the
standards and customs of one’s own culture.
An elegant Ghana name, part of a proud culture, is not “doo-wop.” Of course, if you are ethnocentricand interpret everything by a “doo wop” lens, this will all be mysterious to you.
And, yes, my forebears, even though Caucasian, were ridiculed and abused by ‘natives” regarding
their names. They stayed. I am glad of that. And Grandpa and Grandma always taught, gently, that one should never mock a name that “sounds different.” Yes, English was their second language.
But morality and elegance was their first.
But ignorance and ethnocentricism are conjoined twins. Then and now.
THIS IS THE KIND OF TALENT WE NEED AT DEFENSIVE END. A NATURAL PASS RUSHER. BIG GET, IF HE COMMITS!????
Hope you make a good decision, NaNa and come to Notre Dame. We need all the good D linemen we can get! You will get a great education that will serve you all your life.
That is a mighty impressive offer list. Even if we land his commitment in the Spring here, I’ll be nervous about retaining him until the early signing period in December.
Sounds like some great work by Elston. Hope he and Lea keep up the great work recruiting that side of the ball.
Like His doo-wop name, but love His fighting Irish Spirit even more.