Watching Gateway’s(Monroeville, Pa.) Montae Nicholson on film, you can't help but wonder to yourself if there's anything this dynamic athlete can’t do on the football field.
Last season, the 6-foot-3, 201-pound junior helped lead the Gators to a 9-2 record by showcasing his talents as both a wide receiver and defensive back for Gateway.
Though he's very effective on both sides of the ball, it seems that a majority of the colleges recruiting him have already decided to target him for the defensive secondary and according to the Pennsylvania product that's fine because he's more than confident in his ability to be a explosive defensive playmaker.
“I would say that I'm more of a coverage player in a sense, but don't get me wrong I love hitting people also,” claimed Nicholson. “If I have to come up and hit somebody I'm going to do that, but if the ball’s in the air it’s going to be mine."
This type of confidence and effort has already netted the Gateway standout close to 15 offers from schools like Florida State, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Stanford, and West Virginia just to name a few.
“Recruiting’s been going pretty well and has been pretty steady,” he shared. “I talk to a lot of coaches on a weekly basis and I've taken a few unofficial visits. Right now, I'm just going through the motions really, but I'm extremely excited about the future.”
Though he has yet to receive an offer from Notre Dame at this time, it looks like the Irish are definitely intrigued by the highly touted prospect’s skill set and have decided it's time to become involved.
“Just getting interest from Notre Dame is self-explanatory,” he admitted. “There's no doubt that it's a great school with tremendous academics. They also have an awesome athletic program and I'm honored that they’re even considering me. I'm definitely interested in hearing more from Notre Dame.”
Though it's still way too early to make any type of decision yet, Nicholson can't help but reminisce on when all of this was just a dream.
“When I was little, playing Little League football, I always hoped this day would come where I would be receiving Division I offers,” he explained. “I've always wanted this to happen and now that I look back on things, I sort of laugh because it really has happened. I'm truly blessed.”
Now that the Irish have shown that their interest in him is truly genuine, the dominating defensive back plans on learning all he can about Notre Dame and that will include a future trip to South Bend.
“I believe we’re going to try to get up there this spring sometime, but I'm not sure what date yet,” said Nicholson. “If for some reason we can’t make it up in the spring it will be in the early summer then. Right now, we're just trying to work everything out.”
