Three Notre Dame football verbal commits named to Butkus Award watch list
Three Notre Dame football verbal commits cracked the annual Butkus Award watch list. Future Irish linebackers Bodie Kahoun and Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa and EDGE pledge Bryce Young represented Notre Dame with initial recognition for the annual award given to the nation’s top prep linebacker.
The Butkus Award named 51 high school football linebackers on Thursday’s watch list. That mirrors the No. 51 donned by the award’s namesake, Dick Butkus. It includes prospects from 19 states, including Virginia, California and North Carolina, which feature Notre Dame’s commits.
The Butkus Award plans to name semifinalists on Oct. 31 and finalists on Nov. 21. It will announce the winner on Dec. 7.
Last year, Notre Dame linebacker Drayk Bowen won the award after an outstanding senior season at Merrillville (Ind.) Andrean. In 14 games, he registered 144 total tackles (90 solo), 19 tackles for loss and five sacks. Not to mention five pass breakups, four caused fumbles, two interceptions, a fumble recovery and a blocked punt.
Former Notre Dame linebackers Manti Te’o (2008), Jaylon Smith (2012) and Prince Kollie (2020) previously earned the honor in high school. Smith and Te’o are the only players to win the high school and collegiate awards. Kollie transferred to Vanderbilt in the spring after two seasons with the Irish.
Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco’s Viliamu-Asa is the top-rated recruit among the trio of Irish commits on the watch list. The On3 Industry Rankig considers the 6–foot-2, 235-pounder the No. 110 overall player, No. 9 linebacker and No. 13 prospect in California. He’s a four-star recruit.
In three games this high school football season, Viliamu-Asa has racked up 23 tackles (13 solo), 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack and an interception. As a junior, he had 111 tackles (71 solo), 8.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks and a pass breakup. He also contributed to the turnover department in 2022 with an interception, a caused fumble and two fumble recoveries.
Viliamu-Asa committed to Notre Dame on July 23 over Ohio State and Southern California.
Although the 6-6, 245-pound Young plays on the defensive line at Charlotte (N.C.) Christian he still made his way on the watch list. Young is the No. 321 overall player, No. 25 EDGE and NO. 9 prospect in North Carolina, per the On3 Industry Ranking. Young is also a four-star recruit.
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To kick off his senior season campaign, Young has 35 tackles (20 solo), 4 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 2 quarterback hurries and 2 pass breakups in four games. He’s also caused three fumbles and recovered two more. He had 92 tackles (46 solo), 6 tackles for loss, 3 sacks and 11 quarterback hurries, along with a pass breakup and three caused fumbles as a junior.
Young committed to Notre Dame on April 29. In On3’s own rankings, he’s the No. 194 overall player, No. 19 EDGE and No. 6 prospect in North Carolina.
The 6-3, 215-pound Kahoun from Roanoke (Va.) Patrick Henry has had perhaps the strong start to his senior season of any Notre Dame commit. He’s collected 49 tackles (34 solo), 4 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, a pass breakup and a 27-yard fumble recovery scored for a touchdown in just three games.
That comes after the three-star recruit had 81 tackles, two sacks and a pass breakup during his junior year.
The On3 Industry Ranking considers Kahoun the No. 462 overall player, No. 48 linebacker and No. 7 prospect in Virginia. Kahoun, a former Ohio State lacrosse commit, pledged to the Irish on May 15.
The complete Butkus Award Watch List can be found here.
