Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1428488
42 NOV. 20, 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED W ith all of the twists, turns and sur- prises Aamil Wagner's recruitment had, in the end, it was quite simple. The four-star class of 2022 offensive tackle prospect from Huber Heights (Ohio) Wayne had a top-five list of Kentucky, Maryland, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Penn State, but it came down to three: the Wildcats, Fighting Irish and Nittany Lions. On Oct. 29, Wagner tweeted out a commitment date of Nov. 11, but he hadn't yet fully decided on his school of choice. He had Zoom calls with the Kentucky, Notre Dame and Penn State coaches (essentially eliminating the other two contenders) in the several days leading up to his decision, and he announced his pledge to the Fighting Irish on a live stream. That's the simple outlook on Wag- ner's commitment to Notre Dame. In reality, it was much more complicated than that. LAST-MINUTE DECISION Kentucky was considered the favorite throughout the fall for Wagner since his older brother, Ahmad, was recently hired to the Wildcats' staff as a graduate assistant. Wagner officially visited Ken- tucky over the summer, made it in for a game in September and returned for the Wildcats' 45-42 loss against Tennessee Nov. 6. With Wagner visiting Kentucky's campus a few days before his decision, it seemed like a lock that he'd pick the Wildcats. That obviously wasn't the case, though. He had a sit-down meet- ing with the coaching staff there and asked the final questions he had for them while on campus. The following day, Wagner had a Zoom call with Penn State's coaches and had a handful of questions for them as well. And the night before his decision, he had his Zoom call with the Fighting Irish coaching staff. "I asked every last question that we had," Wagner said. "I wanted to get ev- erything answered and what I needed to know from the coaches. The whole coaching staff was on there — even the defensive coaches like [defensive coor- dinator] Marcus Freeman and [corner- backs coach] Mike Mickens. "They answered all of my questions honestly and truthfully. It wasn't just what I wanted to hear; it's what I needed to hear. "After combining my experiences with those three schools and seeing how they stack up for what's most important to me, Notre Dame came out on top." On that Wednesday night (Nov. 10), his sister, Amani, a track and field ath- lete for Kentucky State, and his brother on the Kentucky staff came home to Ohio and sat down with Aamil to talk about his impending decision. He also called up his oldest brother, Ameer, who played football at Texas Southern. Of course, Aamil had many conversations with his parents, Lee and Teresa, about his choice of school. "I was up until 1:30 a.m. Wednes- day night talking and praying about it," Wagner said. "I thought about something my head coach [Roosevelt Mukes Jr.] said. He preached that one day, football will end. He's been around a lot of athletes like [former Wayne High and Ohio State quarterback] Braxton Miller, and football ended early for him. "Which school would benefit me the most after football is over? When I thought about that, it was Notre Dame." Waking up on Thursday, Nov. 11, Wagner still hadn't made the final call on which school would earn his pledge. It would've been understandable if Wagner pushed back his commitment date, but that didn't cross his mind as an option. COMMITMENT PROFILE AAMIL WAGNER Inside Ohio Four-Star Offensive Lineman Aamil Wagner's Surprising Commitment To Notre Dame Wagner, the nation's No. 23 offensive tackle and No. 202 overall player according to Rivals, appeared to be headed to Kentucky, where his brother coaches, but instead chose the Fighting Irish. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM