No. 1 OLB Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng gets first look at Notre Dame football
The tweet in which Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng announced he would be visiting Notre Dame football for its junior day this past Saturday has more than 100 retweets and 1,000 likes.
Before the top-ranked outside linebacker in the 2025 class stepped foot on Notre Dame’s campus, he could already feel the appreciation.
“First of all, that’s love,” Owusu-Boateng said Sunday following his visit. “Getting so much love from the Notre Dame fan base means a lot to me. To see that they really want me to come by a part of that program and leave behind a great legacy.”
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The Owusu portion of his last name already has a legacy at Notre Dame. That’s because his half brother Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah left Notre Dame following the 2020 season as a unanimous All-American and Butkus Award winner as the best linebacker in college football.
But this weekend was Owusu-Boateng’s first Notre Dame visit. He arrived in South Bend on Friday evening and stayed for Saturday’s junior day festivities. The many conversations Owusu-Boateng had with head coach Marcus Freeman, defensive coordinator Al Golden, graduate assistant linebackers coach Max Bullough and recruiting analyst Dre Brown compelled him to finally make a Notre Dame visit.
“Everybody says great things about the program,” Owusu-Boateng said. “I felt like it was time for me to come up and see it for myself. I’m grateful and blessed that I got the opportunity to.”
The only visits Owusu-Boateng reported making last year were trips to Miami and Florida. With a plan to make a commitment decision in December during the early signing period in order to enroll in January at the school of his choice, Owusu-Boateng still considers it early in his recruitment.
Owusu-Boateng received a scholarship offer from Notre Dame in December 2021 when his brother was busy impressing in the NFL as a second-round pick of the Cleveland Browns. Owusu-Boateng made Owusu-Koramoah part of his visit when he FaceTime called him during a uniform photoshoot while wearing the No. 6 jersey like his older brother did at Notre Dame.
“He was talking about how there’s no negatives in the program,” Owusu-Boateng said. “You’re playing football at a national level, you’re playing against the best, plus you’re getting a great education at the same time. Dudes get drafted first rounds. Overall, they just get drafted and fulfill their long-lived dreams to pursue the NFL.”
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Golden pitched the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Owusu-Boateng on the possibility of playing rover in Notre Dame’s defensive scheme just like Owusu-Koramoah did. That takes a rare talent to do so, especially if that player isn’t going to be regularly replaced by a nickelback.
But Owusu-Boateng is considered that. Rivals ranks him as the No. 20 overall prospect in the 2025 class. According to MaxPreps, Owusu-Boateng totaled 45 tackles, six tackles for loss, one sack, one fumble recovery and one pass breakup in eight games as a junior at Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy.
Owusu-Boateng liked the description of the rover position.
“That being the most versatile and athletic linebacker who can play dime, who can blitz off the edge, who can play off the line linebacker and who can really affect the game in different ways,” he said.
Owusu-Boateng spent time getting to know the other Notre Dame recruits on campus. He mentioned quarterback commit Deuce Knight really connecting with him.
The highlight of the visit was a one-on-one conversation with Freeman. The Irish will try to get him back on campus for more of those.
“Him telling me why Notre Dame stands out, why he sees it as the best fit for me,” Owusu-Boateng said. “Another part I liked about it was how he wasn’t sugarcoating anything. Sometimes you go to programs and they’re going to sugarcoat stuff. He was saying things straight up and straightforward to me.”
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