When pressed for a reason Wednesday why Notre Dame football signee Brandyn Hillman was no longer on a trajectory to enroll at the school in June, Irish head coach Marcus Freeman stayed vague and voiced a desire to let the former three-star prospect tell his own story.
To his credit, the now-future Michigan Wolverine finally did.
“Admissions denied me for Notre Dame,” Hillman told The Athletic’s Austin Meek. “As you can see, I could have committed to any other school. Notre Dame had requirements I had to meet, and I didn’t meet it.”
Hillman, from Churchland High in Portsmouth, Va., originally posted on Instagram on March 12 that he had asked for and been granted his release from his National Letter of Intent, and had done so for personal reasons.
"I would like to thank Coach (Marcus) Freeman and the Notre Dame staff for their interest,” he wrote. I ask you to respect my privacy and my family's privacy as I explore my options on where to attend school this fall."
Inside ND Sports’ attempts to contact Hillman were unsuccessful.
The 6-foot-1, 200-pound multi-position prospect’s recruitment was a bit of a whirlwind the first time around. When his senior season started, he had one scholarship offer — from FCS school Norfolk State. By the time he signed with Notre Dame on Dec, 21, he had a national profile.
The Irish had projected him as a safety, but were open to him getting a look at other positions at both offense and defense.
As a senior, Hillman threw for 1,054 yards and 12 touchdowns, rushed for 1,265 yards and 22 touchdowns and totaled 41 tackles, four tackles for loss, three sacks and four pass breakups. He played safety in the Polynesian Bowl all-star showcase in January.
“I think we’ll let the coordinators kind of wrestle this one out and figure out what side of the ball he’s on," Freeman said of Hillman in December. "What Brandyn does, he can make plays on the offensive side with the ball in his hands as a quarterback, wideout, (and) defensive side of the ball being a safety. He is physical, ball-hawking on defense, punishing, make plays on offense.
"That’s one of those guys you kind of watch the film and say, ‘OK, he’s a football player. Get him into your program and figure it out.' He’s tall. He’s long. He has great athleticism, and he’s physical and tough and intelligent. That guy will make us better. Where? To be determined. But that guy will make this program better."
Once, Hillman announced his release from his Letter of Intent, the offers rolled in. Michigan was joined in offering by Virginia, Boston College, Vanderbilt, UConn, Virginia Tech, LSU, Louisville and Cincinnati.
“I didn’t stress about it too much,” Hillman told The Athletic. “I just trusted the process. After I was released from Notre Dame, the next day I posted a Michigan offer. I just took one step at a time. People are just saying this is God’s plan, so I’m sticking by it, step by step.”
Notre Dame also lost junior Justin Walters from its senior-heavy safety group. Freeman announced Wednesday Walters was retiring for medical reasons.
“We have to look at our safeties room and say, ‘OK, after spring, do we need to get a transfer for the depth of the room?’” Freeman said. “That's what 15 practices will be able to tell us.
“That's the beauty of this thing. You're not really preparing to win a game on April 22. But really you’re saying, ‘OK, where can you look at your roster and say do we need an addition here? Do we need at some point to be able to have some depth, and maybe you'll get somebody out of the portal."
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