Last week, Notre Dame offered Samuel M’Pemba, a 6-3, 210-pound athlete from St. Louis (Mo.) Ladue Horton Watkins.
M’Pemba is listed as an athlete on his Rivals page, but projects as a defensive end at the next level. Given his already impressive frame entering his sophomore season of football, he will be a recruitment to watch for Irish fans down the line.
Notre Dame is one of M’Pemba’s biggest offers to date. The Missouri product will continue to see his offer sheet expand as more schools turn their focus towards the class of 2023, but he already holds some impressive offers including Georgia, Michigan, Texas A&M, and more.
“It’s all been a blessing,” said M’Pemba. “I give all the glory to God. A lot of offers have been coming my way over the past couple weeks, it has been great.”
Notre Dame had been in contact with M’Pemba prior to offering him, as the staff gauged his interest before pulling the trigger on an offer.
“I talked to Coach Mike Elston a few times before my offer,” M’Pemba explained. “He has been really cool, we talked about me coming down to visit as soon as I can. That would be awesome.”
The groundwork has been laid for Elston and M’Pemba to build a relationship as sophomore's recruitment and career continues.
“Elston and I talk about how I could help the team and where they see me playing,” M’Pemba recalled. “We have also talked about my family and my fit at Notre Dame. My family and I are really big on catholic schools, and I am really big on faith. When he was talking to me it was kind of a shock actually, because I was like ‘Wow, this is Notre Dame.’”
Along with his faith, M’Pemba is looking for other traits in his future home that seem to fit Notre Dame perfectly.
“The education there is great,” M’Pemba said. “On top of having a great football team as well, there is a really big culture at Notre Dame. They care about things other than sports there. They care about things in life too, like making me a better man. Those are some of the big things I look for in a school.”
M’Pemba has made connections with players that are currently at Notre Dame as well, adding to the list of things that make Notre Dame a real contender for his pledge. The Irish staff has recruited the St. Louis area very well recently, and M’Pemba knows a couple of guys who are familiar to Notre Dame fans.
“I know some guys from Notre Dame already,” M’Pemba explained. “I know Jordan Johnson because we scrimmaged De Smet last summer. I also know Gabriel Rubio, a lot of the guys on my summer team go to Lutheran St. Charles.”
There is still plenty of time to go in M’Pemba’s recruitment, but the Irish have already made an impact.
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