Notre Dame and Niuafe Tuihalamaka just needed to wait for the pandemic-induced dead period to end. The Irish offered the consensus four-star linebacker a scholarship back in January, and it immediately resonated, with Tuihalamaka (Bishop Alemany High School; Mission Hills, Calif.) de-committing from USC two days later after making that initial pledge nearly a year earlier.
But he waited to visit South Bend last weekend before making his decision, choosing Notre Dame over Texas, Stanford and Arizona State on Saturday afternoon. Tuihalamaka also held offers from more than half the Pac 12, LSU and Penn State.