ND hits the right notes with Kareem

Days after ending a four-month commitment to Alabama, four-star defensive end Khalid Kareem started the search for his college home with an official visit to Notre Dame.

When Kareem had announced his commitment back in June, Notre Dame was one of the finalists. He had already visited the campus and seen a game at Notre Dame stadium, so Kareem's expectations were well refined before he left for the weekend in South Bend.

"It exceeded (expectations)," Kareem said. "It was great, it really was."

Kareem was joined on the visit by both of his parents. His father came away reaffirmed of the positive feeling he had about the program earlier in the process.

"We really liked it," Ken Kareem said. "It was one of those things where we really wanted to just see it again. I can't say anything really stood out because we liked it the first time we went. They were always impressive to us."

For Kareem, this weekend's visit to South Bend was about seeing if he could picture himself at the University for the next four years.

"I just really needed to see some of the dorms and if I did decide to go there, where I would be staying," he said. "I wanted to sit down with the academic support just to see where I fit into the scheme of things."

Spending time with the current Notre Dame players gave Kareem the student-athlete perspective of the school.

"We went out for about an hour and a half after the game and they were pretty cool, laid-back guys," Kareem said. "My player-host was Elijah Taylor, but I also got to sit down and talk with Jaylon Smith (Sunday) morning. They were really just saying that the key thing about Notre Dame is the connections. If football does not work out, you will know so many people that you can do anything with a Notre Dame degree."

From a football perspective, the 6-foot-4, 260-pound Kareem got the game plan on where the Fighting Irish saw him factoring into their scheme from the defensive line coach.

"Coach (Keith) Gilmore broke it down, because that would be my position coach," Kareem said. "He said I would be playing one of the strongside defensive ends. It fits my playing style well. I feel I can transition from high school to that position well."

For Kareem's father it was defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder whom he was most interested to talk with.

"We had a relationship with Gilmore for a long-time, but one of the guys we really wanted to see and get to know a little more was VanGorder," Ken Kareem said. "We talked to him a lot while we were there and got a chance to meet with him one-on-one a couple times. We talked some football and we talked some life. Oddly enough he is from West Bloomfield and we used to live in West Bloomfield, so we had that in common."

Tennessee and Louisville are two schools that have re-ignited their interest in Kareem since his de-commitment from Alabama last week, but no further official visits are scheduled at this time. Notre Dame appears to be in the driver's seat for the four-star defensive following the weekend official visit.

"We'll sit down tomorrow," Ken Kareem said. "We left (Notre Dame) with them knowing that we are serious about it."

Kareem is ranked as the No. 19 strongside defensive end prospect in the 2016 class. He has 15 sacks for a 7-1 Farmington Hills (Mich.) Harrison team this season.

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