Ayoola adds Notre Dame

This past week, Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas running back Dami Ayoola landed his 14th offer when Tony Alford of Notre Dame dropped by the school.

"I came down to the football office and I didn't really expect an offer from them," Ayoola said of Alford's visit. "When I got down there with him and my coach, I was asked if I had been offered by Notre Dame and I said no. He then said, 'You now are'."

The 5-foot-10, 201-pound back said that the experience of landing that offer was pretty significant.

"It was amazing," Ayoola said. "Notre Dame is just a school with such great tradition."

That being said, Ayoola made it clear that the offer didn't stand out any differently than any of his other offers at this point. In addition to Notre Dame, he holds offers from Auburn, Boston College, Central Florida, Duke, Florida International, Illinois, Iowa, Memphis, Minnesota, Rutgers, South Florida, Wake Forest, and Wisconsin.

All of those schools will have to wait to see where they stand, as Ayoola said that his recruitment is on the back-burner until spring practice concludes later this month.

"Right now I am just focused on playing football and dealing with the spring," Ayoola said. "I will sit down and think about my top six or seven around midway through the summer. Right now it is still up in the air who will make that cut. I am not really focused on that right now. I am just worrying about our team as a whole."

"Spring is going really good," Ayoola added. "I am getting after it really well. We are just competing every day and trying to get better. I am trying to do everything I need to do before the season starts so that I can help lead my team and be prepared to play college football."

When it comes time to narrow down his list and decide on some favorites, amongst the characteristics he will be looking for in his future team is their offensive system. He talked about how he sees himself fitting into Brian Kelly's offense at Notre Dame.

"I am a pro-style guy but Notre Dame is Notre Dame," Ayoola said. "I am looking at how the school uses their players and how they utilize their backs. I am going to base my decision off of that."

Ayoola indicated that he believes Florida State, Miami, Michigan State, North Carolina, and West Virginia are all close to offering him.

As a junior, Ayoola finished with 750 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns despite missing two games with a high ankle sprain. He also caught three touchdown passes.