Recruiting: Notre Dame Looking To Continue Hawaii Connection
Notre Dame has developed quite the connection with top players from the state of Hawaii, and it has certainly paid off in a big way.
Manti Te’o, Robby Toma, the late Kona Schwenke, Alohi Gilman, Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa and Marist Liufau all hail from the state, as does early enrollee freshman Jordan Botelho.
It’s likely not a coincidence that Notre Dame had key leaders and playmakers from Hawaii on both of its undefeated regular seasons under head coach Brian Kelly
Special teams and recruiting coordinator Brian Polian is the area recruiter and visits a few times a year, building strong connections with coaches around the islands. In the 2021 class, the coaching staff has its eyes on yet another standout from the islands, Ewa Beach (Haw.) Campbell athlete Titus Mokiao-Atimalala.
Only Rivals lists Mokiao-Atimalala as a four-star recruit, but the 6-1 170-pound two-way standout already has offers from Oregon, Michigan, Tennessee, USC, Wisconsin and many others. Notre Dame added to that list in early December, which was big for Mokiao-Atimalala and his family.
“It was a true blessing, knowing how huge of an offer this is,” the Hawaii native explained.
The Irish coaching staff has made Mokiao-Atimalala a clear priority and is very impressed with what he can offer both offensively and defensively.
“I have a great relationship with Coach Polian and Coach Kelly,” Mokiao-Atimalala said. “In the beginning, they wanted to recruit me as a safety, and then they saw my tape at wideout, and said I can play offense if I want to. So, I’m being recruited as an athlete.”
Recruiting visits have been put on a pause with the recent COVID-19 outbreak. Mokiao-Atimalala is taking it a day at a time when it comes to potentially re-planning visits.
“Well, I set up Notre Dame official visit June 19-20, but after talking with the coaches, we are going to see how the pandemic is. If everything clears up in time, then we will stick with the same dates. If not, then we will postpone that visit.”
In Hawaiian,“Ohana” means family. This is something that is very important in Polynesian culture and to Mokiao-Atimalala.
“What Ohana means to me is to love, appreciate, and respect others, and not only family but to people that you do not know,” Mokiao-Atimalala explained.
The Hawaii to South Bend pipeline has been quite strong, and the coaching staff aims to build a program that can be described as Ohana-like.
“I believe Notre Dame has an Ohana-like culture. It’s a great and blessed opportunity for me to have, especially knowing some of the players and how great they did at Notre Dame.”
Gilman was the leader of Notre Dame’s defense the last two seasons, and that voice was very important for the Irish. Whichever side of the ball Mokiao-Atimalala plays, his goal is to do the same thing.
“Well, first of all, I see myself as a team player,” the talented safety explained. “To me, my job is to motivate and elevate each and every player on my team. With me being a leader on my team, I take it very seriously. We all need to be on the same page in order to make whatever plan we have for our opponent. No “i” in team,” the high priority target plotted out.”
That is the kind of leadership the Notre Dame staff has long coveted, and Mokiao-Atimalala also has the athletic talent to be a difference maker as well. The Notre Dame staff seems to be pushing hard for the versatile athlete, and if they can get him on campus in the near future the Irish could end up with yet another talented Hawaii native on the roster.
