Notre Dame, Harry Hiestand Impress Sam Pendleton And His Family During Visit

Notre Dame and Harry Hiestand made a strong impression on 2023 OL Sam Pendleton

It has been a hectic recruitment thus far for Pfafftown (N.C.) Ronald Reagan offensive lineman Sam Pendleton. After receiving his offer from Notre Dame back on March 16th, Pendleton and his family made it a quick priority to visit South Bend to check out everything Notre Dame had to offer. The Pendleton’s left their weekend visit extremely impressed after their first trip to the campus.

Line coach Harry Hiestand quickly identified Pendleton as an outstanding fit for the program, honing in on the North Carolina standout. According to Pendleton’s mother, April, Hiestand and the rest of the staff knocked this visit out of the park.

“Coach (Hiestand) was such a joy to spend time with,” April Pendleton said. “He was energetic, honorable in speech, and carried an unrivaled level of integrity and transparency.”

His name continuously got brought up throughout the conversation with the Irish Breakdown staff. The Pendleton family got to spend a lot of time with the offensive line room as well. The positive momentum of the visit continues.

“Some of the best parts of the trip was meeting with Coach Hiestand and hearing his vision for ND football,” she explained. “It was also great to be able to spend time with the offensive line during lunch at the training table.

“The offensive line guys were so kind to gather with us for lunch at the facility,” she continued. “They each shook our hands and shared their names. The joy was watching them carry on during lunch, involving the recruits in their conversations. They were well-mannered and spoke with such respect.”

As Sam explained to the staff in the past, his recruitment didn’t really start heating up until during his junior season. His recruiting ranking has a fair amount of range to it as it stands, coming in as high as the No. 239 player nationally according to Rivals. Considering he did not receive his first offer since this past October, Pendleton is no longer a hidden commodity.

His offer list expanded quickly. He already boasts some impressive offers, including the likes of Notre Dame, Clemson, Michigan and Florida, among others. He actually released a top five schools list back in February, which included Virginia Tech, Penn State, NC State, Clemson and Michigan.

That didn’t stop Notre Dame for jumping into the mix quickly.

Of course the appeal of Notre Dame doesn't just come from a football perspective. As one of the finest academic institutions in the country, it attracts some of the finest student athletes in the nation. The Pendletons are an academic oriented family and left overly pleased by what they heard from an academic perspective.

“We were very impressed with the high level of competition to even gain entry into Notre Dame,” Pendleton said. “We were very impressed with meeting the Dean of Engineering and his transparency. It was great hearing about the resources available to make the journey doable while being an athlete and the encouragement from academics to make that happen.“

From pretty much every facet, the fit to Notre Dame makes too much sense. As is expected, Pendleton is nearing a decision but also doesn’t want to rush to a hasty one.

“Sam is currently taking time to sit in prayer and walk through his top few to focus on in the coming days,” she said. “He has not given us an indication of when he will verbally commit but assures everyone it will be before his senior season begins. We have taken all of the unofficial visits that we plan to take. He will return to the campus of his choosing for an official visit in the fall.”

This recruitment has escalated quickly. The Notre Dame staff has done everything in their power to put themselves in a sound position. It’s all about closing now.

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Ranking The 2022 Signees - Offense
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