Current Notre Dame freshman Eilar Hardy has been trying to get his former high school teammate to come visit him since Hardy arrived in South Bend earlier this summer. Hardy will have company at some point this fall when his former Pickerington Central (Pickerington, Ohio) teammate, 2013 defensive end Taco Charlton makes the trip to Notre Dame for a game this fall.
The 6-foot-6, 240-pound Charlton isn’t sure which game he’ll be at, but he’s sure he’ll be at one.
“I’ve heard it’s a nice campus and everything,” Charlton said of Notre Dame. “I’ve always wanted to come down there and see it myself.
“I just want to see how it is. How the fans react to the game, how the stadium is and everything, just see the whole campus and see how it’d be if I came there.”
He informed Hardy, who will miss his freshman season with a knee injury, of his plans recently.
“I was talking to him about it the other day,” Charlton said of Hardy. “He wanted to make sure I let him know when I come down there so I could see how he’s doing.”
Hardy is just one of the attractions of Notre Dame at this point.
“It’s just their history,” said Charlton. “It’s a good sports program and I know somebody there now. I’ve heard it’s just a beautiful campus and I talked to everybody about it and my dad really likes it a lot. He always says it’s a winner.
While Charlton hasn’t nailed down a date to see South Bend, he will see the Irish in action this weekend when Notre Dame plays at Michigan. He typically stays in contact with Notre Dame assistant Tim Hinton, but hasn’t talked to him in a little bit.
“I’ve been getting ready for the season and just focusing on that,” Charlton said.
Charlton already holds offers from Cincinnati, Purdue, Syracuse and UCLA while he’s also receiving interest from the Irish, Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, LSU, Michigan State, Ohio State and Stanford. He plans on getting out to some other games this fall as well.
“Kentucky just invited me to any home game I want to come to,” he said. “I’ll probably go to an Ohio State game and probably another Cincinnati game and probably a Michigan State game.”
It’s still early in the process for Charlton, but the unofficial visits will be key in his evaluations.
“I think they’re going to be very important because I want to make sure I’ve been to places and know what it’s like to be there,” he said. “Before I make a decision about where to go, I want to make sure I’ve been everywhere and know my options.”
