Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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2016 RECRUITING ISSUE teammates working out last June, the Irish began to seriously pursue the one-time Western Michigan commit. Ogundeji, who goes by "Ade," unof- ficially visited South Bend twice prior to pulling the trigger on his commit- ment to the Irish in July. "When I got on campus, I realized that Notre Dame was really going to be an option," Ogundeji said. "I learned a lot about the educational aspect of things. I talked with my par- ents to make sure I knew what I was doing, and then I committed." Ogundeji was not and is not viewed as one of the high-profile additions to Notre Dame's recruiting haul and at 6-5, 216 pounds will need to add bulk to his frame before he sees the field for the Irish. Once the Irish coaching staff ob- served him working out, they saw him as an underrated prospect. So did Western Michigan, which asked him not to go to any camps after a Febru- ary 2015 commitment to avoid a more prominent program noticing him. "The one thing I really like about Notre Dame is that they are honest," Ogundeji said. "I'm not the type of per- son that likes talk. You can talk about me being good, but I want you to tell me the truth about how I can get better. "Coach Gilmore told me straight up that he can help me get better not just on the field, but off the field too. That's why I really wanted to go to Notre Dame." A comparison can be drawn to Ro- meo Okwara, the recently graduated defensive end that blossomed as a se- nior and recorded eight sacks in 2015.