NCAA Football

Signing Day: Manti Te'o to Notre Dame

The biggest football recruit in the history of the state of Hawaii -- Manti Te'o -- has chosen to play football for Charlie Weis and Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish beat out USC and UCLA for Te'o's services after he dropped the favored BYU Cougars from his list after a visit several weeks ago. Te'o is a 6'2", 225-pound middle linebacker long considered one of the nation's top prospects.

If Vontaze Burfict wasn't the nation's top linebacker, Te'o was, and both spurned longtime favorites USC on signing day.The Irish have had a rough signing day, losing several recruits to USC, but this should sweeten things a bit with the bluest of blue chip players ending up on their defense.

Te'o will likely end up playing middle linebacker, but can play all three spots and likely make an immediate impact. Of some concern is his mission status as Te'o is Mormon so the Irish may have to part ways with him at some point in his career, similar to what happened with Ben Olson and BYU.

Regardless, this is a huge get. The Irish have loaded up on skill players the last few years, but couldn't quit land that impact defensive player -- until now.

FanHouse takes you into the belly of the college football beast that is recruiting. We'll be around before, during and after Signing Day '09.

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