High School

Myers Park (North Carolina) star Rodney Dunham chooses Notre Dame

The 5-star edge rusher picked the Irish over Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Duke

Mike Duprez

Five-star edge rusher Rodney Dunham on a visit to Notre Dame
Five-star edge rusher Rodney Dunham on a visit to Notre Dame / Courtesy of Rodney Dunham

Rodney Dunham made it official Thursday afternoon.

The 6-foot-4, 227-pound 5-star edge rusher from Myers Park committed to Notre Dame during a ceremony at the school gym.

“It’s a great academic school,” Dunham said. “A great school for football. It’s a great school that’s going to build you into the man that you want to be. Coach (Marcus) Freeman is also a good leader. … Staff people talk about how he leads as a man, not just as a coach. That’s just somebody you want to be around and somebody you want leading your adulthood.”

Notre Dame was among five finalists along with Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Duke.

“I want to say it was a long process,” Dunham said. “But it was really fun. I got to see places I probably wouldn't be able to go if I didn’t play football. … It was pretty cool. It was pretty fun."

Experts across the country had predicted a 70 percent chance Dunham would commit to the Irish.

Dunham, who is also a talented baseball player with a 90-mph fastball, is rated the nation’s No. 2 edge rusher and No. 2 prospect in North Carolina by 247Sports. He is considered by 247Sports the No. 14 prospect in the country.

After an offer from South Carolina last summer, Dunham’s stock soared and many more offers from other Power Four schools arrived. Along with that came five-star status.

Dunham turned in a dominant sophomore season with 55 tackles, including 16 for loss, seven sacks and 20 quarterback pressures. After getting more attention from opposing blockers and teams scheming to the other side, Dunham’s numbers dropped last season to a still respectable 39 tackles, five sacks and 16 quarterback pressures.

Dunham has received 31 college offers. Among them are Michigan, Alabama, LSU, North Carolina, Oregon, Ohio State, Texas and Texas A&M.

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Mike Duprez
MIKE DUPREZ

Mike Duprez became a freelance sports journalist for Scorebooklive.com several months after retiring from the newspaper business. A native of Oakland, California, Duprez moved around as a child due to his father’s service in the United States Marine Corps. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1981. Duprez, who lives in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, had 30 years of experience in newspapers as well as other endeavors before retiring at the end of 2021. He covers stories in both North Carolina and South Carolina for Scorebooklive.com.

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