Notre Dame liked what it saw from three-star athlete Taebron Bennie-Powell at last week’s evaluation camp.
The Irish were still in search of help at the safety position in 2024, and Bennie-Powell had been preparing all offseason for a return to his natural position. The 6-foot-1, 182-pound product of West Chester (Ohio) Lakota West impressed Notre Dame’s coaching staff enough to earn a scholarship offer.
Less than a week later, Bennie-Powell took the Irish up on that offer and gave his verbal commitment to the program. He announced his decision Wednesday on social media.
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Bennie-Powell becomes the second safety target to commit to Notre Dame’s 2024 class following three-star recruit Kennedy Urlacher. The Irish are also awaiting word from four-star recruit Brauntae Johnson on Saturday to improve the haul for safeties coach Chris O’Leary.
Bennie-Powell, who also attended Notre Dame’s home loss to Marshall last season, played his junior season as an outside linebacker due to the talent in Lakota West’s secondary. Notre Dame signee Ben Minich and Ohio State signee Malik Hartford, both four-star recruits, manned the safety positions for the 13-1 Firebirds.
The new position for Bennie-Powell led to him totaling 36 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, one forced fumble and one recovered fumble. Bennie-Powell returned a fumble for a touchdown and also returned a punt 72 yards for a touchdown in the 14-game season.
Bennie-Powell clocked a 40-yard dash of 4.60 seconds during Notre Dame’s Evaluation Camp I on Thursday. That speed and the potential for him to blossom as a safety during his senior season convinced the Irish to make a move for him despite a relatively modest offer list of 11 other schools including four Power Five programs: Duke, Kentucky, Pittsburgh and West Virginia.
Rivals lists Bennie-Powell as an athlete for his ability to play multiple positions but did not include him in its latest ranking of the top 65 athletes in the 2024 class. Rivals ranks him as the No. 29 prospect in Ohio for his class.
“Taebron Bennie-Powell is another good addition to Notre Dame’s recruiting class,” said Rivals national recruiting analyst Greg Smith. “Listed at 6-foot-1, 182 pounds, he’s got good size to be able to help in run support while still being able to roam in space. Bennie-Powell impressed Irish coaches with his ability to play his natural position of safety this summer at camp.
“He spent his junior season playing out of position as mostly an outside linebacker. Not only did that show his willingness to be a great teammate but it helped him with something else too. He’s now very comfortable playing near the line of scrimmage. He uses his hands to shed blockers well and is a good blitzer. Bennie-Powell is a good tackler but will need to work on consistently running through ball carriers and wrapping them up.
“His ability to read plays and react quickly is impressive which will also serve him well. Bennie-Powell’s best football is ahead of him. The Irish got a nice playmaker to go along with safety Kennedy Urlacher.”
The addition of Bennie-Powell pushed Notre Dame’s 2024 class to 20 commitments and back ahead of red-hot Florida for the No. 3 spot in the Rivals team rankings. Notre Dame trails No. 1 Georgia (19 commits) and No. 2 Michigan (22). Only the top 20 commitments in a class count toward the team’s point total in the Rivals formula.
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