Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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PREP PROFILES One of Ohio's top sophomores plans to give Notre Dame a look. Cin- cinnati Archbishop Moeller defensive tackle Aeneas Hawkins is eyeing a trip to South Bend for the Irish Inva- sion in late June. The plans come just weeks after Notre Dame re- cruiting coordina- tor Mike Elston was at Archbishop Moeller to check up on Hawkins and a month after the Irish extended an offer to the 6-3, 230-pounder while he was in town for an unofficial visit. "If I'm free that's where I'm going to be," Hawkins told Blue & Gold Il- lustrated at The Opening Columbus. May 7. "I'm excited." Hawkins, who holds early offers from Florida, Florida State, Tennessee, Kentucky and Iowa State, is the son of former NFL safety Atrell Hawkins. While he hasn't played much varsity football to date, he has already started to draw comparisons to former Arch- bishop Moeller standout and current Notre Dame sophomore defensive tackle Elijah Taylor, and that in turn is one of the reasons why the Irish are interested. "Elijah is a guy that I try to mold my game after a little bit, but we are slightly different players," Hawkins said. "He's more of a run stuffer — and I think I can stuff the run — but I'm a little more shifty. "We're different kinds of players and that's the biggest thing the [Notre Dame coaches] said they like. They like the athleticism I show on film and the effort I put out." H a w k i n s s a i d that one of the highlights of his April 13 visit to Notre Dame, which c e n t e r e d o n a spring practice, was getting a chance to interact with Tay- lor. He also liked his time with head coach Brian Kelly. "Eventually I was called into Coach Kelly's office, where he talked about me becoming a member of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish," Hawkins said. "That was encourag- ing and very exciting." Hawkins doesn't have a set list of leaders this early in the recruiting process, but he did mention that he's already starting to build a relationship with Elston. "I like Coach Elston a lot," Hawkins said. "He's an energetic guy and pas- sionate. He shares a lot of the same values that I do, so it's good to catch up with him. He's one of my favorite coaches that I'm talking to right now and just a high energy guy." — Andrew Ivins Top Ohio Defensive Tackle To Give Irish A Look AENEAS HAWKINS No star rating yet Moeller Cincinnati Status: Offered Class: 2018 Position: Defensive Tackle Ht.: 6-3 • Wt.: 260 40-Yard Dash: 4.9 Rivals Rankings: Currently unrated