Hafis Williams and Deion Walker look like they’ll be extending their college football careers, doing so for their former offensive coordinator Charley Molnar at UMass.
According to Matt Vautour of the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Williams and Walker will be joined by former Michigan running back Michael Cox, all joining the Minutemen for a final season of immediate eligibility, thanks to the same transfer rule that allowed Dayne Crist, Anthony McDonald, and Mike Ragone to play for Kansas.
While Walker’s paperwork isn’t completed, this closes the book on two members of the vaunted 2008 Irish recruiting class. Williams contributed sparingly throughout his career, playing behind veterans like Ian Williams before being passed in the depth chart by Louis Nix. Williams played in five games during his senior season at Notre Dame, chipping in eight total tackles and 1.5 tackles-for-loss.
Walker was a highly touted recruit out of Christchurch, Virginia, choosing the Irish over offers from USC, Penn State, Florida State, and Clemson. Gifted with good size, the 6-foot-3, 206-pound receiver never cracked the receiver rotation, catching only one pass during his career and seeing the field in only two games his senior season. Given an opportunity to seize a job during his final spring of practice with Michael Floyd suspended from the team, Walker looked capable during the Blue-Gold game, but only saw minutes against Purdue and Air Force in mop-up time.
Molnar’s Minutemen will be making the leap to D-I football this season. NCAA rules don’t allow the school to comment until all players are enrolled in summer school, set to begin next week.