There aren't many programs more successful than Ohio State football. Hard as it is to defeat the Buckeyes on the field, how do competing coaches go about beating them on the recruiting trail? Notre Dame football's Marcus Freeman, at least, seems to have figured out a successful strategy.
Four-star recruit Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa is deciding between Ohio State and Notre Dame after hearing Freeman's pitch about the academic quality between each school.
“The major thing [Freeman] touched on was how much Notre Dame offers off the field and the difference between an Ohio State degree and a Notre Dame degree,” the St. John Bosco (Bellflower, CA) linebacker told Rivals.com, via The Columbus Dispatch. “It was important for me and my mom to see it because my mom is big on academics so what he touched on was school, the connections and what a Notre Dame degree means after football.”
If anyone can convince recruits Notre Dame's academic rigor is superior to Ohio State's, it's probably Freeman. He played for the Buckeyes from 2004-08, twice earning Second Team All-Big 10 honors at linebacker. Freeman was also a graduate assistant in Columbus in 2010.
Freeman's case to Viliamu-Asa certainly won't endear him to Buckeye nation regardless. Fans were already upset with the Fighting Irish head coach before Ohio State's home-opening win over Notre Dame last season, when Freeman was quoted as saying “you don't go to class at places like [OSU]. OK, take some online classes, show up for your appointments. At Notre Dame, you're forced every day to go to class.”
Viliamu-Asa, the sixth-rated linebacker in the Class of 2024, has USC in his final three alongside Ohio State and Notre Dame.
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