2023 ATH Sonny Styles Planning On Visiting Notre Dame Soon

The sophomore season for Pickerington (Ohio) Central athlete Sonny Styles was filled with several milestones. On the field, Styles helped lead the Tigers to an 11-0 record and an appearance in the Division 1 state finals, but the team was unable to bring home some hardware and suffered its first loss in the championship game.

Off the field, the 6-4, 205-pound prospect landed scholarship offers from Ohio State after week one and Notre Dame after week three. Schools such as Michigan and Michigan State joined the party with offers during the offseason.

Sonny is the younger brothers of Lorenzo Styles Jr., a wide receiver who signed with Notre Dame in the 2021 class, so it is no surprise that the Fighting Irish are in early on the class of 2023 talent.

“Every time I have talked to Notre Dame, we talk about after football and how you're set up,” Styles told Irish Breakdown. “They're also competitive and are one of the top programs every year consistently. I can tell they're really hard on tradition, and I really like that. It's pretty cool.”

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Styles was first introduced to the Notre Dame coaching staff when his brother was being recruited to the school. At the time, the younger Styles chatted Notre Dame wide receivers coach Del Alexander and defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman, but the standout sophomore recruit has also formed a budding connection with safeties coach Chris O'Leary as well.

“They seem like they're nice guys,” Styles mentioned. “I just want to keep talking to them and building the relationship so I can really get to know them and they can really get to know me.”

In terms of Styles' recruitment, it makes sense that O'Leary is taking a lead effort since many programs project the versatile prospect as a safety at the next level, however Styles mentioned that he's going to be playing a bit more towards the line of scrimmage this coming season in addition to spending time on the offensive side of the ball as well.

“The past three months, I've been having basketball,” Styles said. “With basketball, I'm working on my conditioning, and this year I'll be playing both ways. Now that basketball is over, I'm going to be in the weight room to get stronger. When it starts to get hotter out, I'll go out to get some field work, just working on my hips and getting out of my breaks quicker. I'll probably work on a little bit of pass rushing this year because I might be coming in the box, blitzing a little bit more this year in addition to working on my speed.”

Styles is finding time in his schedule to pencil in both basketball and football training lately, and once the recruiting dead period is lifted, the coveted defensive back prospect will need to find time for college visits. In terms of where those visits will be, Styles is not completely certain, but he does know two schools that he is eager to check out.

“It all just depends on the schedule and what me and my family can do,” Styles noted. “Ohio State is right down the road, so I'll definitely be able to go there. Notre Dame, I'll probably go there, but I'm not completely sure where I'll be able to go. I'll try to get to as many as I can.”

Look for the Fighting Irish coaching staff to continue recruiting Styles as one of its priorities in the 2023 cycle moving forward.

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