Elite Linebacker Noah Mikhail Raves About First Oregon Visit
The West Coast has been very kind to Oregon when it comes to recruiting elite linebacker talent. After landing Dylan Williams, Kamar Mothudi and Brayden Platt in the 2024 cycle, La Verne (Calif.) Bonita linebacker Noah Mikhail could be next in line for the Ducks.
The top-50 overall prospect (247Sports Composite) took his first trip to Eugene this weekend and spoke with Ducks Digest about the trip.
"I've been in contact with Coach B Mike (Brian Michalowksi) and he'd been talking about wanting to get me up," Mikhail said of what drew him to Eugene. "We'd been talking quite a bit on the phone. The schedule kind of panned out and worked and I was able to make it out."
Autzen Stadium is a guarantee to be a hit with recruits and the 6-foot-3, 218-pound backer reflected on his gameday experience.
"Yeah the atmosphere, it's outstanding," he said. "The stadium gets really loud at that time. All the fans are into the game even when it's 25, 30 degrees out so it was a really fun and cool experience. It was nice to finally see them in action in person."
It was a busy itinerary for the Southern California standout, but a few parts of the visit were especially memorable.
"Probably a highlight was getting to sit down with Coach [Dan] Lanning, Coach [Tosh] Lupoi and Coach B Mike the next day on Saturday," Mikhail said. "I think something that really stood out about them, from their players' standpoint is that the linebackers are always communicating and making checks.
"They were talking a lot during the game which was a big part of it because they were making adjustments on their own. Being able to see that and seeing that they have that knowledge is big."
Mikhail has 35 reported scholarship offers, but the Ducks certainly helped set themselves apart with a strong trip.
"I think something that really stood out also was the teaching part," he said. "A lot of their coaches are teachers as well, not just coaches. I think that's a big part of it."
He doesn't have any plans to take future visits, but he is preparing to get more serious with his recruitment.
"Where I'm at with it, I don't have a list yet or anything, but I'm starting to break everything down and hopefully start narrowing it down to a couple schools I'm very interested in."
With so many offers on the table it's hard to deem early favorites for the junior 'backer, but he noted some of the schools that have been on him the hardest.
"Some of the schools that are on me pretty heavy would be USC, still heavy, Washington, Alabama, Oklahoma, Notre Dame. Oregon obviously. Arkansas is pretty heavy on me too, Utah. Michigan is on me pretty heavy."
As he works on narrowing down his list of suitors, he's holding a handful of factors as especially important.
"I think some of the things I look for are faith, relationships, and the whole culture and environment of the place," Mikhail said.
He left his time in Eugene with a strong sense of how he'd be treated if he decides to play his college ball for Dan Lanning.
"Something about Oregon is just they really care for their players and that's a big thing to me and I saw that while I was down there."
