Rivals250 DE NaNa Osafo-Mensah chooses Notre Dame over Texas

After weeks of anticipation over a decision between Notre Dame and Texas, Rivals250 defensive end NaNa Osafo-Mensah announced his commitment to the Irish following his spring football game at Nolan Catholic High School on Saturday evening.

He took official visits to both this spring - the most recent to Texas in early May. But something about his experience in South Bend stuck with him. The current players as well as the relationships that he’s been able to build there were critical in his choice, and he’s looking forward to a change in scenery.

“I just liked everything about it. It really just felt like home,” he said. “The players were awesome - they were just showing so much hospitality, even though we just met. They just made me feel like I was just one of them already and the fact that they are from all over the world is awesome.

“Being around Texas teams my whole life is cool, but I really wanted to have the opportunity to get out and meet some new people and I knew Notre Dame could provide that for me.”

Osafa-Mensah took his official visit to Notre Dame ahead of its spring game, but wasn’t upset about not seeing it in person. He said that being to able to catch a practice and see how it was run was valuable to know what he could expect on a more day-to-day basis.

“Seeing practice and that was a big thing for me, to see how the coaches are in practice,” he said. “Seeing how the players were, what they do, how they scrimmage and all that. It was pretty similar to how we practice. The tempo was higher, as it was a college practice, but I liked it because Coach (Mike) Elston incorporates so many different things that he teaches in the film room.”

After talking with Elston, the associate head coach/defensive line coach, and the rest of the defensive assistants, Osafa-Mensah said that he expects to get inserted into the defensive line relatively quickly. This spring, he’s strung together a number of impressive camp performances - including the Rivals 3 Stripe Camp presented by adidas in Dallas - and he said as he’s discussed his future with the staff more, he has a good idea about what he can expect with the Irish.

“I have been talking to Coach Elston and Coach (defensive coordinator Clark) Lea about the role that they see me playing,” he said. “They’ve been telling me more about how I can help them so much and the fact that I have been talking to them so many times makes me comfortable with them and I know they’re going to be great coaches for me.”

Osafo-Mensah’s relationship with fellow commits Hunter Spears and Jacob Lacey has been instrumental in his commitment, as well. The three were on their official visit together, and he said their three families have all struck up a pretty strong friendship, too.

“We were all hanging out together the entire weekend,” he said. “Whether we were going out to eat, hanging out with the players and it was never awkward between us, we felt like we were already on the team together. We were all making jokes and chilling and everything - I know Hunter Spears and Jacob Lacey are two guys I have known for a while now, and we were all happy to get out there together.”

Osafo-Mensah said that he expects Texas and others to continue recruiting him, but when it came to choosing Notre Dame over Texas, there was a feeling that he’d not found anywhere else. Even after a positive official visit to Austin, his heart had been set on the Irish.

“It was awesome I love everything about that place, too,” he said of his visit to Texas. “I just felt that when I was on that visit to Notre Dame there was just something right when I got there that I just knew that whether I play football or not I’m going to enjoy my time there.

“I think [Texas] will keep recruiting me, I talked with [Ed Orgeron] today. Alabama came by my school this week, I’ve been talking a little bit with Arkansas, too,” he added. “I think that teams will keep talking to me until I sign in December, but I’m pretty certain that when I commit to Notre Dame, I’m not looking to de-commit or anything like that.”

Osafo-Mensah said that he plans on making one more visit to Notre Dame this summer and twice more for games in the fall. He said that he’s particularly excited to return for the Sept. 29 matchup against Stanford, but is already envisioning the days when he’ll be playing in a game like that himself.

“It was awesome being in the stadium,” he said. “The field was just huge and just imagining how many fans will be there - you know at my school, we have just have some bleachers and we can just fit a couple hundred people in there, so playing in front of thousands is going to be crazy.”