Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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2016 RECRUITING ISSUE times." In addition to Alabama, Kareem's list of offers comprises several col- lege football elites, including Oregon, Michigan, Michigan State, Stanford and Ohio State. He said Notre Dame was on his radar before the program hired Gilmore last offseason from North Carolina, but that hiring "put it over the top." "We have a great relationship," Ka- reem said. "I talk to him probably once or twice every week. We talked during the recruiting process when he was at North Carolina. We have a good rela- tionship." If there's one area where Notre Dame has struggled to land — and keep — talent, it's with its pass rush. Defensive end Bo Wallace, a 2015 signee, never enrolled at Notre Dame; sophomore Kolin Hill transferred to Texas Tech prior to the start of last sea- son; and now senior Romeo Okwara has graduated after registering eight sacks in 2015. Kareem knew that enrolling early could help put him on the trajectory for playing time next season. "Just the opportunity to play and get a head start in college," Kareem said. "It wasn't really a main part of Notre Dame's pitch," he added. "They said the opportunity would be there if I worked hard. During the offseason, I'll work hard to be able to play this fall. "I do see me having an immediate impact on the D-line this season." Freshmen have to impress the coach- ing staff quickly to earn a spot in the playing rotation, but enrolling early allows Kareem 15 spring practices to do so ahead of fall camp. With Okwara gone, Notre Dame will look to juniors Andrew Trumbetti and Grant Blan- kenship and senior Doug Randolph to disrupt the quarterback with senior Isaac Rochell set to start for the third straight season at the other defensive end position. Along with Kareem, incoming fresh- men Julian Okwara — Romeo's brother — and Ade Ogundeji will also vie for snaps, although the latter will most likely redshirt as a freshman. "I'm pretty good off the ball," Ka- reem said of his play. "My first step is pretty good. An area Id like to im- prove is my hand technique, so I can use it more against my opponents." Gilmore should be able to assist in that department. Shortly after he ar- rived last winter, Notre Dame players raved about how their new defensive line coach enhanced their technique and, specifically, the use of their hands. The coaching helped lead to Okwara's breakout senior season and to senior Sheldon Day recording the most tackles for loss (15.5) by an Irish defensive lineman since 2006. All of that is appealing to Kareem, but he offers that there are non-foot- ball reasons to enroll in South Bend as well. "Just the fact that a Notre Dame de- gree is great one as long as I work my butt off," he said. Rivals ranks the 6-4, 245-pound Ka- reem as the No. 8 recruit in Michigan and the No. 17 strongside defensive end in the country. He finished his senior season with 56 tackles, 36 stops for loss, 16 sacks and five forced fumbles. ✦