Pacifica/Oxnard LB Devin Aupiu flips from UCLA to Notre Dame

Photo: Courtesy of Pacifica football

Michael Huntley December 9, 2020 @ 05:52 PM

One of the state’s top linebacker prospects flipped his commitment from UCLA to Notre Dame Wednesday. Last week, <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2020/11/weekly-recruiting-report-7/">it was reported</a> that Pacifica (Oxnard) linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="25074" first="Devin" last="Aupiu"] was offered a scholarship from Notre Dame despite being previously committed to UCLA. It didn’t take long for the Fighting Irish to gain the attention of Aupiu. "They started picking up interest around the beginning of November after the player that was at my position decommitted," Aupiu told Brandon Huffman of 247Sports. "My family was extremely excited for me especially, because of the caliber of that offer. It is huge, especially with the season they are having this year." https://twitter.com/aupiu44/status/1336800485269856257?s=20 Aupiu told coach Mike Elston (defensive line coach and associate head coach) he was committing. "The biggest reason I picked Notre Dame was the culture of the school is next to none and the atmosphere there is usually described as a family," said Aupiu. Aupiu will sign on the early signing day and enroll at Notre Dame in January, skipping his senior season at Pacifica. He made the decision to enroll early at whichever college he chose long ago. "I am completely shutting it down due to it being so close to signing day," Aupiu told Huffman. "It is a huge relief that I am completely done with the recruiting process especially the end where you’re not 100% sure where you want to go which can be extremely stressful. So now I’m able to just look forward and take on the next chapter of my life." https://twitter.com/vcspreps/status/1206029594739924992?s=20 Aupiu is proud to be coming from Oxnard to South Bend. Not many football players from Oxnard get a chance to play at a football powerhouse like Notre Dame. He feels that area is an untapped resource for college level talent. "Going to Notre Dame coming out of Oxnard is huge and is a great step towards the mark I want to leave in my community," said Aupiu. "I want to show the kids that it doesn’t matter where you come from, you can always accomplish your dream as long as you put in the work. And I’m able to show everyone outside of Oxnard that there is a bunch of talent in this city that just needs a shot." He is the third defensive player from California in Notre Dame’s recruiting class, joining <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="25126" first="Chance" last="Tucker"]</strong> from Crespi (Encino) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="25068" first="Will" last="Schweitzer"]</strong> from Los Gatos.    