Punahou (Honolulu, Hawaii) will have the luxury of starting two four-star defensive ends this year that are around 6-foot-7 and weighing over 240 pounds. DeForest Buckner will man one side of the defensive front, while his teammate Luke Kaumatule will handle the other.
Notre Dame was in Hawaii a few months ago to get the lowdown on both these gigantic talents and even though neither received an offer, they hope the Irish keep in contact with them and that goes double for Kaumatule.
“The last time I talked to Notre Dame was when Coach (Mike) Denbrock stopped by our school before the summer,” said the talented prospect. who spoke with Denbrock on the phone after his visit. “He wanted us to take a visit to Notre Dame and see how we liked it. He told us what top-notch school Notre Dame was and told us how almost 100 percent of their football players graduate. I thought that was pretty cool.
“Actually, I have a lot of interest in Notre Dame. When I start looking into colleges, my top priority will be education, and if Notre Dame would offer me that would be huge opportunity for me to look into.”
The 6-foot-7, 260-pound recruit has already received a number of offers and, as of right now, his offer sheet has a West Coast flavor to it.
“Right now I'm up to 11 offers and most of those are from the PAC-12,” said Kaumatule. “I have been offered by Arizona, BYU, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, Utah, Washington and Washington State.”
A number of these recruiters have had the opportunity to see him play and know what he can bring to their program.
“If I had to describe myself, I would say I am a speed rusher,” said Kaumatule. “I love to rush the passer, but I also like to stop the run. I always come to practice with a lot of energy and try to pump up my teammates. This year, I'm looking forward to being a more active leader on the team since I'm a senior.”
With the Irish trying to decide whether they like the junior enough to offer him, the Hawaiian product has already started receiving some inside information about them from a good source.
“Whenever Manti (Te’o) comes back to visit, he usually comes to our practices because his dad’s the running back coach,” explained the defensive end. “I always ask Manti about Notre Dame and he always tells me what a great school it is and how everybody around him is so nice. He tells me how the campus has some of the best facilities in the nation and he says there are always people around to help you with your schoolwork. He says the football coaches always say it's school first.”
A lot of people think that just because Kaumatule is from the islands, he's destined to stay out West, but that's not the way Kaumatule is looking at it, especially if the right offer came along.
“I really don't think distance is going to matter to me,” he claimed. “My dad has always told me to not be too picky when you choose a school. He says to sacrifice everything to get that education and with hard work on the football field, everything will pay off.”
Is there any chance he could head to South Bend in the foreseeable future?
“I would definitely like to get up and see Notre Dame,” said the Hawaiian standout. “It's still too early to tell if I'll be able to do that yet.”
