'17 IL DE A.J. Epees (Iowa Verbal)

Crazy Balki · Mar 22, 2015

irishff1014 said:
Wiltfong thinks we are at the top or very near the top for him.

All your DE's are belong to us!

Huntr · Mar 22, 2015

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Edwardsville (Ill.) High five-star DE AJ Epenesa calls his first <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NotreDame?src=hash">#NotreDame</a> visit "amazing." <a href="http://t.co/Wv6UsFwwzj">http://t.co/Wv6UsFwwzj</a> via <a href="https://twitter.com/247Sports">@247Sports</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Irish?src=hash">#Irish</a></p>— Steve Wiltfong (@SWiltfong247) <a href="https://twitter.com/SWiltfong247/status/579445430808875008">March 22, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Irish#1 · Mar 22, 2015

Huntr said:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Edwardsville (Ill.) High five-star DE AJ Epenesa calls his first <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NotreDame?src=hash">#NotreDame</a> visit "amazing." <a href="http://t.co/Wv6UsFwwzj">http://t.co/Wv6UsFwwzj</a> via <a href="https://twitter.com/247Sports">@247Sports</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Irish?src=hash">#Irish</a></p>— Steve Wiltfong (@SWiltfong247) <a href="https://twitter.com/SWiltfong247/status/579445430808875008">March 22, 2015</a></blockquote>
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His first visit amazing! Sounds to me like there will be a lot more!?

Booslum31 · Mar 22, 2015

Looks bigger than 230...or at least plays bigger.

ndcoltsfan2010 · Mar 23, 2015

Great news! It sounds like we made a huge impression on one of the nation's best DEs in the '17 class! Would love to eventually get this kid.

Crazy Balki · Mar 23, 2015

I am vomiting green kool-aid right now. Stop, stop........stop.

ndcoltsfan2010 · Mar 23, 2015

Crazy Balki said:
I am vomiting green kool-aid right now. Stop, stop........stop.

You and me both!

Ironman8 · Apr 20, 2015

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>AJ Epenesa's 187'2.5" DT currently ranks him #1 in IL, #7 in the Nation, and #1 Sophomore throw in the Nation. <a href="http://t.co/KJd0zpgY7X">pic.twitter.com/KJd0zpgY7X</a></p>— Edwardsville Track (@TrackEHS) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrackEHS/status/588135918768263168">April 15, 2015</a></blockquote>
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connor_in · Apr 20, 2015

Ironman8 said:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>AJ Epenesa's 187'2.5" DT currently ranks him #1 in IL, #7 in the Nation, and #1 Sophomore throw in the Nation. <a href="http://t.co/KJd0zpgY7X">pic.twitter.com/KJd0zpgY7X</a></p>— Edwardsville Track (@TrackEHS) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrackEHS/status/588135918768263168">April 15, 2015</a></blockquote>
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That's gotta make him the world's tallest Defensive Tackle, right?

Buster Bluth · Apr 20, 2015

187 feet as a sophomore is simply stupid.

zelezo vlk · Apr 20, 2015

Buster Bluth said:
187 feet as a sophomore is simply stupid.

He's never gonna get good leverage at that height.

GoIrish41 · Apr 20, 2015

zelezo vlk said:
He's never gonna get good leverage at that height.

He's not the first guy off the bus ... he's going to need his own bus.

BobbyMac · Apr 20, 2015

Ironman8 said:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>AJ Epenesa's 187'2.5" DT currently ranks him #1 in IL, #7 in the Nation, and #1 Sophomore throw in the Nation. <a href="http://t.co/KJd0zpgY7X">pic.twitter.com/KJd0zpgY7X</a></p>— Edwardsville Track (@TrackEHS) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrackEHS/status/588135918768263168">April 15, 2015</a></blockquote>
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That's awesome for him... but I dislike. Not good when Irish targets are OLYMPIC caliber track athletes. ND is not built for that. He's on an Olympic trajectory right now, @ 220ft will get you a medal. As a Phoenix area resident I heard all the rumors about how much Devon Allen liked ND but when you are an Olympic hopeful ya gotta go where that chance can be maximized.

May that be his all time best! In all seriousness, I'd rather have him or Devon Allen have a chance to compete for USA track and win a gold if it means not playing for the Irish.

Best of luck to you AJ!

.

md_bennett · Aug 20, 2015

Just checking in on this guy as I haven't heard much about him in a while. A lot of Hawkeye stuff floating around his twitter of late. His background has him in an Oregon shirt. I did see this on his retweets though:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">God. Country. Notre Dame.

<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/4thOfJuly?src=hash">#4thOfJuly</a> <a href="http://t.co/3QoHXbGSmC">pic.twitter.com/3QoHXbGSmC</a></p>— Brian Kelly (@CoachBrianKelly) <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachBrianKelly/status/617437676149559297">July 4, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Would love to start making a push on some of these highly rated DE's and lock on down early.

Luckylucci · Aug 20, 2015

There has been regular communication between AJ and his family with the ND staff. That previous relationship seems to be paying early dividends. At this point it doesn't seem like there is much separation between his top group of schools. Iowa, ND, Oklahoma are the ones I see the most. We expect to have him on campus for a game this fall.

Bogtrotter07 · Aug 21, 2015

This kid is a really interesting prospect. Physically he is there at what, 15?

Does anyone have any insight about his family, or his maturity? I haven't seen anything bad; it is just that I haven't seen anything at all.

dublinirish · Aug 21, 2015

the next Aaron Lynch, in a good way

drake29 · Aug 21, 2015

dublinirish said:
the next Aaron Lynch, in a good way

I see a better run defender - not as much of a pass rusher. Better attitude (of course at this stage we all thought Lynch was an awesome kid). If he has a better work ethic (which won' be hard) he will be a stud.

Luckylucci · Aug 21, 2015

drake29 said:
I see a better run defender - not as much of a pass rusher. Better attitude (of course at this stage we all thought Lynch was an awesome kid). If he has a better work ethic (which won' be hard) he will be a stud.

Agreed. He's still so young and his speed/quickness will improve as he grows into his body but I don't see the elite pass rushing skills that Lynch had. With that said, he has a lot of time to improve upon that.

aubeirish · Aug 21, 2015

drake29 said:
I see a better run defender - not as much of a pass rusher. Better attitude (of course at this stage we all thought Lynch was an awesome kid). If he has a better work ethic (which won' be hard) he will be a stud.

Mama Lynch. Best IE recruiting job ever. We were relentless recruiters on that one. Too bad it didn't worked out.

dublinirish · Aug 21, 2015

aubeirish said:
Mama Lynch. Best IE recruiting job ever. We were relentless recruiters on that one. Too bad it didn't worked out.

she laid the groundwork for ND recruit relative participation alright, without her there'd be no Jojo Black

Chi_IRISH · Aug 21, 2015

If I'm not mistaken, Dad was a stud at Iowa. Mom also an athlete at Iowa.

BobbyMac · Aug 21, 2015

Bogtrotter07 said:
This kid is a really interesting prospect. Physically he is there at what, 15?

Does anyone have any insight about his family, or his maturity? I haven't seen anything bad; it is just that I haven't seen anything at all.

His dad, Eppy Epenesa played football at Iowa. He's Samoan. His sister plays volleyball at Purdue and should be a model.

BobbyMac · Aug 21, 2015

dublinirish said:
she laid the groundwork for ND recruit relative participation alright, without her there'd be no Jojo Black

Jojoblack just called, he disagrees.

dublinirish · Aug 21, 2015

NDCrusader said:
His dad, Eppy Epenesa played football at Iowa. He's Samoan. His sister plays volleyball at Purdue and should be a model.

aha reps for the insider info

BobbyMac · Aug 21, 2015

dublinirish said:
aha reps for the insider info

Told ya... and a 'footer' to boot.

PANDFAN · Oct 8, 2015

visiting Mizzou this weekend

PANDFAN · Oct 23, 2015

gilmore visited him

ThePiombino · Oct 23, 2015

If we don't land this kid, I will lose all faith in humanity. Not really. But sort of.

GoldenToTheGrave · Oct 23, 2015

aubeirish said:
Mama Lynch. Best IE recruiting job ever. We were relentless recruiters on that one. Too bad it didn't worked out.

It worked out decently for a year anyway. This site tries to minimize how much of a playmaker he was his freshman year (understandable considering how salty everyone was after thede commit).

'17 IL DE A.J. Epees (Iowa Verbal)

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