From the road: Insider notes on ex-Notre Dame DL commit Owen Wafle
*** Three-star Princeton (N.J.) Hun School defensive lineman Owen Wafle recently backed out of his verbal commitment to Notre Dame after initially giving the Irish a pledge a year ago. There have been some that have claimed Notre Dame ‘cooled’ on Wafle and ‘parted ways’ with him. But that’s not the case. Notre Dame really wanted Wafle in the class and valued him more than his three-star ranking. However, Michigan became increasingly involved, and Wafle was upfront with the Irish staff about wanting to take an official visit. Notre Dame, of course, has an antiquated no visit policy, and Wafle didn’t want to abide by it. He scheduled his Michigan OV and announced his decommitment from Notre Dame. Again, Notre Dame absolutely did not cool here.
*** I put in an On3 Prediction in favor of Michigan as soon as Wafle made his announcement public. I would have actually put in a flip pick a few weeks prior had I not been told to keep things on the low — yes, he is the committed prospect I hinted about earlier this month. Michigan defensive line coach Mike Elston has done a fantastic job of building a strong relationship with Wafle and his family and is arguably the biggest reason Michigan was able to change the course of this recruitment. Elston also values Wafle more than his ranking and is making him a top overall priority. Area recruiter Grant Newsome also played a role in this recruitment. Wafle made sure to give him plenty of praise as well.
*** Wafle is set to make his Michigan OV on June 9. While he has no true decision timeline, I wouldn’t be surprised if he pulls the trigger shortly after that. Wafle has never been to Michigan and is excited get an in-depth look at the program. Michigan is at its best on June official visits, so I have no doubt the Wolverines will hit a home run and close the show. Aside from just the football aspect, Michigan should be able to impress the Wafle family with its high academics. Wafle is a great student in the classroom, and his father played at Duke. Wafle has offers from other schools like Iowa, Michigan State and Oklahoma. However, he has no other official visits scheduled, and I feel confident in my pick.
*** I did not get to see Wafle work out, but I did get to size him up in-person. That was really important since the recruiting sites have him listed anywhere from 230-290 pounds, which is obviously a significant gap. Wafle is a legit 6-foot-2 1/2, 290 pounds. He has a really thick build in both halves but doesn’t have any fat in his mid-section. Wafle has a similar build as fellow defensive line target Deyvid Palepale — the latter is a bit bigger — and I expect him to be more of a three-technique at the next level. Elston has also talked to Wafle about playing some nose and 4i. While he’s on the shorter side, Wafle has a 6-9 wingspan. He also starts at fullback and ran a 4.91 laser 40 this offseason.
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