A month that included its fair share of ups in terms of Notre Dame recruiting ended with a down.
Coppell, Texas, cornerback Bennett Okotcha, who committed to the Irish in early December, backed out of his ND commitment Monday and gave a verbal pledge to Oklahoma, The (Oklahoma City) Oklahoman reported online, citing various recruiting websites.
Before picking ND, Okotcha had been committed to Wisconsin.
The first day verbal commitments can become binding is Wednesday, national signing day.
Okotcha's decommitment completed an active January for the Irish, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
The Irish added defensive end/outside linebacker Ishaq Williams and defensive end Aaron Lynch during a two-day span in the middle of the month.
Lynch committed to ND in July, switched to Florida State in November and then back to the Irish. Both are already enrolled in classes at Notre Dame.
Days after adding Williams and Lynch, defensive end commit Stephon Tuitt changed his commitment from Notre Dame to Georgia Tech before flipping back to the Irish.
In addition, the Irish landed two-way lineman Chase Hounshell, who for a long time had been committed to Florida. The Irish also secured a commitment from offensive lineman Nick Martin, who had been committed to Kentucky.
With Okotcha's decommitment, Notre Dame's recruiting class of 2011 now stands at 22 players.
One of those 22 is running back/athlete Cam McDaniel, a teammate of Okotcha's at Coppell High.
Notre Dame is reportedly involved with only one more player in this class – Anaheim, Calif., two-way lineman Troy Niklas.
Niklas, who visited ND over the weekend, has narrowed his list to the Irish and USC. He is expected to make his announcement on Wednesday.
Coppell, Texas, cornerback Bennett Okotcha, who committed to the Irish in early December, backed out of his ND commitment Monday and gave a verbal pledge to Oklahoma, The (Oklahoma City) Oklahoman reported online, citing various recruiting websites.
Before picking ND, Okotcha had been committed to Wisconsin.
The first day verbal commitments can become binding is Wednesday, national signing day.
Okotcha's decommitment completed an active January for the Irish, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
The Irish added defensive end/outside linebacker Ishaq Williams and defensive end Aaron Lynch during a two-day span in the middle of the month.
Lynch committed to ND in July, switched to Florida State in November and then back to the Irish. Both are already enrolled in classes at Notre Dame.
Days after adding Williams and Lynch, defensive end commit Stephon Tuitt changed his commitment from Notre Dame to Georgia Tech before flipping back to the Irish.
In addition, the Irish landed two-way lineman Chase Hounshell, who for a long time had been committed to Florida. The Irish also secured a commitment from offensive lineman Nick Martin, who had been committed to Kentucky.
With Okotcha's decommitment, Notre Dame's recruiting class of 2011 now stands at 22 players.
One of those 22 is running back/athlete Cam McDaniel, a teammate of Okotcha's at Coppell High.
Notre Dame is reportedly involved with only one more player in this class – Anaheim, Calif., two-way lineman Troy Niklas.
Niklas, who visited ND over the weekend, has narrowed his list to the Irish and USC. He is expected to make his announcement on Wednesday.
