Former Duke EDGE RJ Oben commits to Notre Dame

Former Duke EDGE RJ Oben announced his commitment to Notre Dame Wednesday afternoon.

The 6’4 260 EDGE will have 1 year of eligibility remaining.

“I love the coaching staff and feel like the defensive philosophy is one that I can excel in,” Oben said. “Coach Washington displayed to me a solid plan for how I can improve as a player that I appreciated. Coach Golden also runs an NFL-style, top tier defense that I’m excited to be a part of. I’ve had a familiarity with the school considering the history of players from Jersey and a couple from my high school specifically that have had success there, and I believe I can come to ND and succeed as well. The school’s national network and that level of exposure is unmatched.”

In 2023, Oben had a total of 17 tackles and 5 sacks.

RJ Oben Recruiting Profile

Oben ranked as the No. 866 player according to the 2019 On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He also tabs in as the No. 85 EDGE and the No. 18 player in the state of New Jersey.

Transfer portal background information

The NCAA Transfer Portal, which covers every NCAA sport at the Division I, II and III levels, is a private database with names of student-athletes who wish to transfer. It is not accessible to the public.

The process of entering the portal is done through a school’s compliance office. Once a player provides written notification of an intent to transfer, the office enters the player’s name in the database and everything is off and running. The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request and that request cannot be refused.

Once a player’s name shows up in the portal, other schools can contact the player. Players can change their minds at any point and withdraw from the portal. However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship no longer has to be honored. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school is not obligated to provide a scholarship anymore.

The database is a normal database, sortable by a variety of topics, including (of course) sport and name. A player’s individual entry includes basic details such as contact info, whether the player was on scholarship and whether the player is transferring as a graduate student.

A player can ask that a “do not contact” tag be placed on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want to be contacted by schools unless they’ve initiated the communication.

He currently has an On3 NIL Valuation of $310K. The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets high school and college athletes’ projected annual value (PAV). The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.