Four-star LB Niuafe Tuihalamaka continues California pipeline to Notre Dame
The Golden State has been kind to Notre Dame for many years now.
The Fighting Irish have reeled in at least one signee from California in every recruiting class since 2006. Mission Hills (Calif.) Bishop Alemany four-star linebacker Niuafe Tuihalamaka continued the streak by officially signing with Notre Dame on Wednesday.
Tuihalamaka originally committed to USC in February 2020, but he pulled out of his pledge to the Trojans in January. After a six-month period as college football's equivalent to a free agent, Tuihalamaka committed to Notre Dame on June 19.
He said he knew he would end up in South Bend not long after the Irish sent him a scholarship offer on Jan. 21. It took half a year for him to make good on his thinking by committing, but all of that is hindsight now. Tuihalamaka is Irish after all.
The signees from California haven't just been a group of guys that amount to a snazzy streak. Many of them have been impactful players in their Notre Dame careers.
Take rising sophomore quarterback Tyler Buchner, for instance. The La Mesa (Calif.) Helix product was instrumental in his role as a secondary option to graduate student Jack Coan at the most important position on the field in his first year with the program.
Safety Ramon Henderson was the lone signee from California in the class of 2020, and he has made an impact late in the season as well. Isaiah Foskey signed from California in the class of 2019. He's one of college football's best pass rushers in 2021.
For some reason, Notre Dame has simply had a knack for sniffing out difference makers from out west. Obviously, there's a dense population to pick from there. California boasts some of the best high school talent in the country. But it’s one thing to sign those players and an entirely different thing to get the most out of them.
That’s what Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman hopes to do with Tuihalamaka, who led Bishop Alemany to the state championship game this past season. He totaled 84 tackles (12.0 for loss), 4.0 sacks, one quarterback hurry and three forced fumbles.
Tuihalamaka checks in as the No. 8 inside linebacker and No. 197 overall player in the 2022 class per Rivals. He is also the No. 11 player in the state of California, which might be the most impressive of any of those rankings considering the laundry list of prospects coming out of there year in and year out.
Tuihalamaka makes up one part of a four-headed monster Freeman and company have created at the linebacker position in the class of 2022. He's joined by fellow four-star recruits Jaylen Sneed of Hilton Head (S.C.) High School, Nolan Ziegler of Grand Rapids (Mich.) Catholi Central and Joshua Burnham of Traverse City (Mich.) Central.
Given Freeman's success as a linebacker at Ohio State from 2006-08, it’s not surprising he has been able to recruit the position well in his first year as an Irish coach. Freeman received commitments from all three of the linebackers while he was Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator. It’ll be interesting to see if he maintains his success in this area as the man in charge of the entire operation.
In the meantime, though, that doesn’t matter. Freeman officially has Tuihalamaka in blue and gold. Now it’s time to develop him into the next great Irish standout from California.
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