Blue and Gold Illustrated

June-July 2022

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1468566

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 33 of 47

34 JUNE/JULY 2022 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED Devan Houstan attends St. James School in Hagerstown, Md., but hails from Mississauga, Ontario, where his family still resides. He visited seven Power Five schools in total but none of them more than once. Having your parents in a different country doesn't make it easy to take a ton of recruiting trips. His trip to Notre Dame occurred Jan. 29, and before that the only visit he took was to Penn State last fall to take in a game. Houstan also made spring visits to Michigan, Northwestern, Rutgers, South Carolina and Wake Forest. These are the seven schools that made up his final group of choices. While he was checking out other pro- grams, Notre Dame was always in his thought process. He needed to figure out if another school could top what he saw in South Bend. "I had it in my mind after my first visit that it was where I wanted to be," Houstan said. "My mom and I had a great time and thought, 'Wow, it's going to be hard for another school to top this.' "But we also kept in mind that I needed to take other visits to make sure I could see differences, even though it felt right at the time." Houstan visited Rutgers April 16, which ended up being his final trip be- fore announcing his commitment deci- sion May 7. He sat down with his par- ents and weighed the pros and cons of his options. "The biggest thing for me was where can I go to be pushed as a player, as a student and as a man in general," he said. "And which coaches did I have the best relationships with? Notre Dame checked those boxes." The 6-foot-5, 270-pounder an- nounced his decision live on CBS Sports HQ , but a couple weeks or so before going public with his choice Houstan informed the Irish staff of the big news. He first called head coach Marcus Free- man, then spoke with defensive line coach Al Washington and wrapped it up by calling director of recruiting Chad Bowden. "They were so ecstatic and surprised," Houstan recalled. "They knew that I really liked Notre Dame but didn't think I'd make a decision this soon. They were all very excited. The energy was through the roof." Notre Dame offered Houstan last fall under Mike Elston, who left to become Michigan's defensive line coach in January, but Houstan and Washington made a connection right away. " H i s p e rso n a l i ty i s contagious; you want to be around that kind of energy," Houstan said o f Wa s h i n g to n . " We talked for the first time right before I went on the visit, and we clicked immediately. He's such an easy person to talk to and is so well rounded. He's a great guy." Houston was relieved when he was fi- nally able to announce his commitment. "The recruiting process got crazy for me at a point," he explained. "I wanted to step away and recoup with my family — and that's when I came to the realiza- tion about Notre Dame. It felt great to finally be open about where I want to go." Houstan will be back at Notre Dame this summer for an official visit — likely June 10 when most of the Irish commits will be on campus. It seems as if Notre Dame will be the only school he visits again before signing a letter of intent. "I don't see myself visiting any other schools," he said. "I visited all the schools in my top list already." Houstan is a four-star recruit, the No. 7 player in Maryland, and the nation's No. 35 defensive lineman and No. 271 overall prospect according to On3. His brother, Caleb, played hoops for Michigan (10.1 points per game) and has declared for this year's NBA Draft. ✦ COMMITMENT PROFILE DEVAN HOUSTAN Nothing Can Top Notre Dame For Canadian Defensive Lineman FILM ANALYSIS "Houstan is a fluid, active defensive lineman who looks to be ascending as a player. He's a big, loose athlete pairing good size at around 6-foot-5, 270 pounds with functional movement skills. He made the transition to American high school football relatively seamlessly after coming down from Canada and had a productive junior season while playing on both sides of the ball. "Houstan shows very good bend and flexibility — he plays low and fires off the snap. We also see him show quick hands and some burgeoning pass rush moves. "The natural movement skills also show up with his closing speed behind the line of scrimmage. I'm looking forward to tracking Houstan as a senior, given how much he's progressed over the past year. He has the look of a prospect who will continue to progress with more experience." — On3 director of scouting and rankings Charles Power "I had it in my mind after my first visit that it was where I wanted to be. My mom and I had a great time and thought, 'Wow, it's going to be hard for another school to top this.'" HOUSTAN ON NOTRE DAME On3 lists Houstan as four-star prospect, the No. 7 player in Maryland, and the No. 35 defensive lineman and No. 271 overall recruit in the country. PHOTO COURTESY ON3.COM

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Blue and Gold Illustrated - June-July 2022