Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman, cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens and defensive director of recruiting Chad Bowden stopped by Mission Hills (Calif.) Bishop Alemany on Tuesday for a sit-down visit with their four-star linebacker commit Niuafe Tuihalamaka.
This was a key visit for the Notre Dame staff. Tuihalamaka hadn’t visited Notre Dame since his official back in June, which was also his first time on campus. His mother wasn’t able to make it on that visit and hadn’t met the Notre Dame coaching staff yet.
It would be understandable if Tuihalamaka’s mother had reservations about sending her son across the country considering that she hadn’t met Freeman and Co. yet. But that changed on Tuesday when she met him.
“It went great,” Tuihalamaka told BlueandGold.com on Tuesday night. “We wanted to make sure my mom was on board with my decision and that I was in safe hands with Coach Freeman. My mom now has less stress and less concern. She understands why everyone loves Coach Freeman.”
Tuihalamaka is now more solid than ever with the Fighting Irish.
“My future is in good hands with Coach Freeman,” he added.
Not only did Tuihalamaka’s mother get to finally meet Freeman this week, she’ll see him again over the weekend. The NCAA implemented a rule that allows for programs with a head coaching change to host a prospect for a second official visit. Tuihalamaka, his mother and his sister will be flying out to Notre Dame Friday for an all-expenses paid visit.
“I’m really happy about that,” he said. “I wanted to go to Notre Dame this season for a game, but I wasn’t able to. I’m so glad about that new rule so I can go there with my mom.”
USC was among the schools that reached out to Tuihalamaka after news broke last week that Brian Kelly would be bolting from Notre Dame to LSU. Before Freeman was hired, Tuihalamaka told BlueandGold.com that he had “no idea” what he was going to do moving forward, but with Freeman in place as Notre Dame’s new head coach, he is going strong with Notre Dame and plans to sign next week.
“There were a lot of schools besides USC,” Tuihalamaka said about schools contacting him. “Their defensive coordinator and wide receivers coach came here and met with me and our two other players who were committed to USC [Ephesians Prysock and Kevin Green Jr.]. They talked to me and said that they knew I was still committed to Notre Dame and how I feel about Notre Dame. But I was not interested in them.”
Rivals ranks Tuihalamaka as the nation’s No. 196 player and No. 6 inside linebacker. He committed to the Fighting Irish June 19 over the likes of Florida, LSU, Oregon, Penn State, Texas, UCLA, USC and others.
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