Notre Dame’s recruiting train keeps rolling with the Irish accepting the commitment of Indianapolis linebacker Asmar Bilal. The Ben Davis product chose Notre Dame over Michigan in a recruitment that seemed to have the Wolverines in the driver’s seat until the football season started.
Bilal also had offers from Michigan State, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas A&M and others. At 6-foot-3, Bilal has great length at the linebacker position. But at roughly 200-210 pounds, there’s still some heft needed before he’s ready to hit the field.
Where Bilal will play remains to be seen. 247Sports sees Bilal as the third-best inside linebacker in the country. Others view him as an outside linebacker target. Seeing as the Irish are playing converted wide receiver James Onwualu at outside linebacker, Bilal might not be too far away from fitting that specific physical skillset, especially with the depth chart there just Onwualu and converted safety John Turner.
Notre Dame’s linebacking corps should come into focus in the next few weeks. Tevon Coney, another top target for the Irish is making a decision soon, choosing between Notre Dame, Florida and Miami. With Josh Barajas already committed, that could close up the Irish’s recruiting at the position.
Great day to get better. Excited for practice but before we start, I had to send out....#WeAreND
— Brian Kelly (@CoachBrianKelly) October 16, 2014
Bilal’s commitment was all but made official by head coach Brian Kelly, who headed to Twitter to produce the #WeAreND, the bat-signal for recruiting commitments. Landing Bilal from a public school powerhouse in Indianapolis is another great catch for the Irish coaching staff, getting back into an in-state school that’s produced a lot of talent, but not necessarily a lot for the Irish.
Bilal is commitment No. 20 for the 2015 recruiting cycle. Here are some highlights from his junior season:
***