Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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PREP PROFILES As a strong student-athlete from a Catholic school, Damar Hamlin was greatly interested in landing an of- fer from Notre Dame. On Nov. 11, the Pittsburgh Central Catholic four-star cornerback received some good news in the mail from the Irish coaching staff. "I had a letter in the mail that stated I had an offer from Notre Dame," the class of 2016 recruit said. "It feels great. I'm extremely proud of myself. My hard work is really paying off, and I'm blessed to have this offer. It's just a great feeling. "We have a lot of tradition at my high school and it's so much like Notre Dame. 'Tradition never graduates' is our motto, and that's a lot like what they speak about at Notre Dame." Hamlin's recruiting process is still in its early stages, but he has had a few op - portunities to check out some schools. "I've been to Penn State, West Virginia, Temple and Ohio State for games," the 6-1, 175-pounder noted. "I guess the only real visit to the school I went on was at Penn State. The others were just to watch the football itself. "I'm going to visit Notre Dame with my family, likely in the spring, but we haven't picked a date yet. I'm definitely getting up there. I can't wait. I've heard good things." Although Hamlin considers his re - cruitment wide open and doesn't claim a leader, national per- ception is that Penn State holds the early lead. "I have a tight relationship with that coaching staff," Hamlin said. "I like [head] Coach [James] Franklin. I love his coaching style. I like where he's taking the pro - gram, and he's a straightforward guy. "I don't have any favorites, though. I haven't really been to many places and compared schools and programs and tradition and all that." Along with the Irish and Nittany Li- ons, Hamlin has picked up early offers from Michigan, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Temple, Virginia and Virginia Tech. "The Michigan offer was great," Ham- lin said. "That was a big one as well. They were sending me mail for a long time, so it felt good to finally get the offer from such a good school." Through 12 games of his junior sea- son, Hamlin had racked up 45 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, four interceptions and three sacks. — Tom Loy Pennsylvania Cornerback Earns Coveted Notre Dame Offer DAMAR HAMLIN ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ Central Catholic High School Pittsburgh Status: Offered Class: 2016 Position: Cornerback Ht.: 6-1 · Wt.: 175 40-Yard Dash: 4.51 247Sports Rankings: No. 180 overall prospect in the country, No. 15 cornerback in the nation and No. 5 player in Pennsylvania