BLACKSBURG — Two weeks before Ken Ekanem was about to visit Notre Dame’s campus for the first time in January 2012, he received in-person news that broke his heart, but also provided him with a reality check about the recruiting business.
He’s moved on, but he’s never forgotten.
At the time, he was about a month removed from tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in one of his knees in the state championship game, while playing the final game of his high school career for Centreville in Northern Virginia.
Virginia Tech (7-3, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) and Notre Dame were among the five finalists in his college decision, but where Tech told him they’d honor a scholarship offer made to him no matter the situation with his knee, Ekanem said it was a much different situation with Notre Dame.
After then-Tech coach Frank Beamer and defensive coordinator Bud Foster came to his house to assure him he was still invited to come play in Blacksburg on scholarship, Ekanem said he got a visit from Notre Dame. He was slated to visit Tech on the weekend of Jan. 20 and Notre Dame on the weekend of Jan. 27 — his last two visits before he made his decision — but his plans changed.
“Notre Dame came two weeks later to my school, and they told me I shouldn’t come visit and they wouldn’t accept my commitment due to the uncertainty in my knee,” said Ekanem, who will lead Virginia Tech’s defense Saturday when it travels to Notre Dame (4-6) for the first meeting of the programs. “I was like, ‘Oh, really?’ They were like, ‘Yeah. I mean, most schools would do that, right?’ I was like, ‘Tech didn’t.’ ”
When Ekanem sets foot on Notre Dame’s campus, he’ll be just as interested as many of his Tech teammates in seeing all of the Fighting Irish’s iconic symbols — Touchdown Jesus, the golden dome, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. If Ekanem had it his way, he’d have seen all those things nearly five years ago.
“It was awesome being recruited by those guys, but Tech wanted me more as a student as well as an athlete,” said Ekanem, a 6-foot-3, 255-pound redshirt senior defensive end who was considered by most recruiting analysts one of the nation’s top 25 high school defensive ends or outside linebackers in the class of 2012. “(Notre Dame) kind of just wanted the athlete part of me, and a full-functioning athlete.”
While Ekanem’s story tells just one side of the recruiting process, it’s not an indication of a general rule for how Notre Dame handles offers to recruits who get injured.
A year before coming to Notre Dame, current Fighting Irish players Torii Hunter (broken femur), Daeline Hayes (torn rotator cuff) and Josh Adams (torn ACL) all suffered injuries, but Notre Dame honored offers made to each player.
About a month before he said Notre Dame rescinded its offer, Ekanem said he noticed the Irish’s recruitment of him was starting to get a little odd.
Brian Kelly, who is now in his seventh season as Notre Dame’s coach, was in his second season as the Fighting Irish’s coach when they were wrapping up Ekanem’s recruitment. Charley Molnar, who was Notre Dame’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the time, headed the Irish’s pursuit of Ekanem.
During a visit Molnar made to Centreville High in early December, Ekanem said he couldn’t help but feel strange about his interaction with Molnar. Ekanem said Molnar was clearly distracted, and for good reason.
“He kept getting interrupted by these phone calls,” said Ekanem, who ultimately became Tech’s final commitment for its ’12 recruiting class. “I was like, ‘What the hell is going on?’
“So, the next day, my (high school) coach comes up to me and said, ‘What’s up with your boy Charley Molnar?’ I was like, ‘I don’t know. He was kind of acting weird last night, but I’m not sure.’ (My high school coach) was like, ‘He just accepted the head-coaching job at (Massachusetts).’ I was like, ‘Oh, OK.’ ”
Regardless of how it turned out with Notre Dame, which recruited Ekanem as an outside linebacker for what was then a 3-4 defensive scheme, Ekanem harbors no ill will toward the school. His decision to sign with Tech worked out just fine, considering he’s been a three-year starter for the Hokies and has logged 29.5 tackles for loss and 18.5 career sacks.
“They’ve got great tradition (at Notre Dame) and a really good business school,” Ekanem said. “I’m a business (management) major, so it was really attractive to me. I mean, the main reason why Notre Dame was in my top five was because — it’s Notre Dame. The school is cool. I was interested, but I guess they weren’t interested in me fully.”
Like many of his Tech defensive teammates, Ekanem is gritting his teeth through injuries this season. After suffering what he described as a slight tear in his right pectoral muscle Oct. 15 in Tech’s 31-17 loss at Syracuse, he said he played one-armed at Pittsburgh, but started feeling better at Duke and against Georgia Tech.
“He’s battling through it,” Foster said. “It’s going to always aggravate him, I believe, until the season is over. …Those guys are working hard like they would professionally. I appreciate them wanting to be out there, and they’re leading by example. I’m talking (defensive tackle) Nigel (Williams). I’m talking Ken. Those guys like that, that are seniors, that have been beat up. Sam Rogers. They’re warriors. I appreciate everything they’re all about.”
Ekanem, who is tied with defensive tackle Woody Baron and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds for the team lead this season with 4.5 sacks, has a succinct way to describe his aches and pains.
“I’m just old,” said Ekanem, who added he felt about 95 percent healthy in the Georgia Tech game. “I think everybody is just nicked up. It’s just stuff you’ve got to deal with.”
Now, as he prepares for the final true road game of his career in a place he could’ve called home for his college-playing days, Ekanem is looking to help get Virginia Tech’s defense back on track against what Foster calls a “normal” offense, as opposed to Georgia Tech’s triple spread option that posted 309 rushing yards in the Jackets’ 30-20 win last Saturday in Blacksburg.
Ekanem will be expected to put pressure on Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer, who has completed 60.5 percent of his passes for 2,470 yards, 22 touchdowns and eight interceptions to go along with 440 rushing yards and seven more touchdowns on the ground.
From Ekanem’s perspective, instead of losing focus on what took place in the past, this weekend is all about refocusing before getting into what could be an ACC Coastal Division-clinching opportunity for Virginia Tech on Nov. 26 against Virginia.
“I love playing away, definitely, in these type of games,” Ekanem said. “I’m not trying to have like a personal vendetta against these guys, but I’m just trying to get better as a team, just get right and get back into the flow heading back into ACC play.”
