Boston College Football Recruiting: Former Western Michigan Commit Noa Merritt Visits Heights

Pope John XXII (Sparta, New Jersey) defensive lineman Noa Merritt is visiting Boston College this weekend. The former Western Michigan commit reopened his recruitment last week after committing to the Broncos back in July. In addition to BC, UConn, Temple, Delaware and Towson are all taking a look at the 6-foot-1, 265 pound defensive lineman.

A big part of the reason Merritt decommitted from Western Michigan is that he's looking to play college ball a little closer to home.

"It wasn't so much doubting Western Michigan. I just didn't see myself being part of that program anymore. Location was a big thing. Kalamazoo's a ways off. I'm kind of a mama's boy, I want to stay closer to home. That played a huge part in it.

"I just weighed my other options to see what came up."

The Eagles coaching staff got a chance to watch Merritt play at BC over the summer. While the coaches thought highly of the defensive lineman, they had reservations about his height and weight. Merritt bulked up this past season and is up to 265 pounds.

Merritt is good friends with current Boston College rising junior defensive end Malachi Moore, which may help in Merritt's recruitment. Merritt's Pope John teammates Noah Brown (Ohio State) and Ryan Izzo (Florida State) are headed to major conference programs next fall.

A three year starter on Pope John's defensive line, Merritt has racked up 28 sacks in three seasons with the Lions. He's regarded as a two-star recruit per both 247Sports and Rivals. Merritt doesn't yet have an offer from BC and re-pledging to Western Michigan is still on the table.

Could Merritt be the Eagles' answer at DT in the 2014 class?