Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1491978
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MARCH 2023 67 2023 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY MIKE SINGER West Roxbury (Mass.) Catholic Me- morial class of 2023 defensive lineman Boubacar Traore was never truly able to show the country what he's capable of. He may not have cared about how outsiders viewed him, but he would've wanted to be out there on Friday nights with his team. The pandemic limited his sophomore season in 2020. He had a right ankle in- jury that forced him to miss most of his junior year in 2021, and then he suffered a left ankle injury and only saw action in a few games as a senior in 2022. "I'm never the type to give up," Traore said. "You go through adversity and things happen for a reason, too. You just have to keep fighting." Thankfully, recovery has gone well for the Irish signee, and he is nearly at full strength. "I'm back running," he said. "I wouldn't say 100 percent but like 85 or 90 percent. In a month, I'll be back to 100 percent." Traore is a summer enrollee and is excited to finally get his Notre Dame career going. "I'll focus on my grades, recovery and training before I get there so I can be ready for what they have for me," Traore said regarding his plans for this spring. The 6-foot-4, 250-pounder was originally committed to Boston College before flipping his pledge to the Irish last April. After making that pledge, he never looked back. "It was really good," Traore said of his time as an Irish commit. "The fans show a lot of love. It was great to be commit- ted to such a great school." There was no drama for Traore after locking in his Notre Dame commitment. He didn't hear from colleges after he pledged to the Irish. "Everyone understood where I stood with my recruitment," he added. Notre Dame offered Traore under for- mer defensive line coach Mike Elston, but that change didn't impact Traore's recruitment. He built a strong bond with current position coach Al Wash- ington in just a couple months. "He's a great coach," Traore said. "We've been able to connect and watch film. I like talking to him about my fit in the defense. We've become really close." This August, Traore will get to work with Washington for fall camp and will hope to make his mark on the 2023 sea- son for Notre Dame. ✦ Boubacar Traore Fought Through Adversity En Route To Notre Dame A pair of ankle injuries kept Traore off the field for much of the past two years, but he is on the road to recovery and excited to get his Irish career started. PHOTO BY JACK RENAUD BOUBACAR TRAORE DEFENSIVE LINEMAN 6-4 · 250 CATHOLIC MEMORIAL H.S. BOSTON RANKINGS STARS NAT. POS. STATE ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 289 34 4 ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 222 33 4 ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ — 24 4 ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 141 19 3 STATISTICS • Played in only three games as a senior due to injury, and recorded 10 tackles, 5 stops for loss, 1 sack and 1 forced fumble. • Made 40 stops and 10 tackles for loss during his junior season in 2021. • Helped lead Catholic Memorial to a 13-0 sea- son in 2021 capped off by a Massachusetts Inter- scholastic Athletic Association Division 2 champi- onship — the program's first in 43 years. NOTABLE • Selected to the 2023 All-American Bowl but did not play due to injury. • 2022 Boston Herald Dandy Dozen for Massa- chusetts Division 1-2. • His older brother Badara played at LSU and is an offensive lineman for the Arizona Cardinals. • His other brother Mohamed played college basketball at Division II school Franklin Pierce. RECRUITMENT • Committed to Notre Dame on April 27, 2022. • Was previously committed to Boston College. • Recruited by defensive line coach Al Wash- ington. • Visited Notre Dame twice, including his official visit on June 17, 2022. 2023 PROJECTION • Traore is likely to redshirt as a true freshman. THEY SAID IT Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden: "Boubacar has length, is rangy and probably is in that 240 range right now. At some point we'll get him up to 255, 260." On3 director of scouting and rankings Charles Power: "Traore is a versatile defensive lineman capable of lining up multiple spots on the front. He has good size and length with a wide-hipped build at around 6-foot-4, 250 pounds with a 6-foot-7 wingspan. "Traore shows the ability to rush off the edge, showing good get-off, quick hands and bend. He shows speed-to-power as a straight-line rusher as well." National recruiting analyst Tom Lemming: "He's a dominant pass rusher who is relentless in pur- suit, shows good overall speed and vision, and takes great pursuit angles to the ball. He looks thin at 255 pounds and should weigh around 280 at the next level. "He's been blessed with big-time athletic ability and has the long arms and the quick hands needed to remain at defensive end at the next level. He plays defensive end but has the body type and strength to possibly move inside in a couple of years."