Notre Dame lost a member of its 2022 recruiting class on Sunday.
Rabun Gap (Ga.) Naccoochee defensive end Darren Agu announced on Twitter that he would be backing off his Notre Dame commitment that he gave in April.
“This was definitely one of the HARDEST decisions I’ve had to make,” Agu wrote in his announcement. “However after talking with my head coach and parents and thinking hard, I want to announce that I will be decommitting from the University of Notre Dame.
“I want to thank Coach Elston and the coaching staff at Notre Dame for believing in me. I appreciate [you] giving me the opportunity to be a part of a team with such great history. Thank you.”
Agu committed to the Irish without seeing campus and wasn’t able to take an official visit in June like both parties had hoped would happen.
Notre Dame is left with three defensive line commitments: Pittsburgh Central Catholic’s Donovan Hinish, St. Louis John Burroughs’ Tyson Ford and Chantilly (Va.) High’s Aiden Gobaira. Notre Dame is also in play for four-star defensive line recruits Cyrus Moss, Anthony Lucas and Hero Kanu, who was offered on Saturday.
Defensive ends Tampa (Fla.) Berkeley Prep’s Keon Keeley and Mentor (Ohio) High’s Brenan Vernon are already committed to Notre Dame in the 2023 class.
Agu is Notre Dame’s second decommitment of the 2022 cycle. Milton (Ga.) High tight end Jack Nickel picked the Irish during the summer of 2020 before backing off his pledge in the spring. He has since pledged to Michigan State.
During seven games as a junior in 2020, Agu caught 13 passes for 218 yards and five touchdowns. In limited reps on defense, Agu recorded 11 tackles, one tackle for loss, three sacks and one fumble recovery. Two games of Agu’s junior season are not included in his stats.
Agu holds 31 scholarship per his Rivals page, including Auburn, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, Michigan State, Ole Miss, North Carolina, Penn State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech and West Virginia.
Rivals lists Agu as an “athlete” as he held offers for both tight end and defensive end. He’s ranked with a 5.7 recruit ranking — the highest designation for a three-star player — and is the nation’s No. 27 “athlete” and No. 47 player in the state of Georgia.
Agu was born in Ireland and moved to England when he was very young. He moved to the United States last August to attend Rabun Gap (Ga.) Nacoochee, a boarding school in North Georgia with many other international recruits. Last fall was Agu’s first season of playing 11-man football.
