Notre Dame Football Recruiting: Onwualu Enrolls Early
By Nick Combs
James Onwualu with HC Brian Kelly and OC Chuck Martin. CREDIT: James Onwualu’s Twitter (@J_Walls).
James Onwualu
Athlete
4 Star
Cretin-Derham Hall High School
Commitment Date: 03/14/2012
James Onwualu hails from the same high school as former Notre Dame star Michael Floyd. Will he break records like Floyd? They are a different type of player. Onwualu is perfectly suited for the Z position in Notre Dame’s Offense. He played Running Back and Wide Receiver in High School. Enrolling early will probably help him get on the field, at least on Special Teams.
From the Slap the Sign Prospect Evaluation:
"When classified as an athlete during recruiting is a testament to your ability to play many different positions and your overall athleticism. Onwualu is a very good athlete (ranked as the 21st athlete in the country) and spent most of his time on the offensive side of the ball as a running back. Notre Dame plans to use him as a wide receiver, but nothing is ever set in stone. KeiVarae Russell was an athlete and slated to play running back, but now he is a defensive back and had a solid year. Onwualu could end up playing defense, but not likely. He will likely stay at wide receiver unless there are injuries at the running back position and then he could be moved to running back. His best attribute would be the ability to stop and go when he cuts or breaks down to make a catch. Footwork and route running will be the first on the list to perfect for Onwualu if he turns out to be a wide receiver. Toughness isn’t an issue, but putting on about 5-10 more pounds of muscle will help him throughout his 4 years at Notre Dame.The 4 star athlete from St. Paul Minnesota stands at 6’1’’ 205 pounds and is an early enrollee at Notre Dame. The Irish lose Robby Toma, Tyler Eifert, and John Goodman from their receiving core and will add a freshman or two to that group. Chris Brown will take over one of the spots if he keeps developing into an all-around receiver. The 2013 recruiting class is very deep, especially at wide receiver. Tori Hunter Jr. will take a while to recover, Corey Robinson could be the dark horse in the class, and Will Fuller, which makes Onwualu one of four wide outs. Just wait and see who out works and out performs the others."