Lincoln-Way East’s Caden O’Rourke drawing lots of interest

Lincoln-Way East’s junior defensive end Caden O’Rourke has a very measured, calm way of addressing questions of him.

Very few of those traits show on the field, however, as the 6-foot-5, 215-pounder, is a disruptive force on the field, a fact that hasn’t eluded a large chunk of elite college football programs.

“The recruiting has blew up a little bit. Notre Dame is the school that has shown the most recent strong interest.”

—  Caden O'Rourke, Lincoln-Way East football

“The recruiting has blown up a little bit,” O’Rourke said. “Notre Dame is the school that has shown the most recent strong interest.”

Others certainly are coming to the table in the near future for O’Rourke, who already has secured nine DIvision I offers including three Big Ten Schools in Illinois, Iowa and Northwestern.

“Colleges are telling me that they like my speed and my flexibility. Technique is one that all colleges say that I’m really good,” O’Rourke said. “They are also saying that I’m kind of iffy on my weight right now and that I need to gain.”

All in all, O’Rourke has enjoyed the experience of the recruiting push.

“I’m taking it in, and I’m enjoying it,” O’Rourke said. “Completely. It’s very unreal.

“I’m just staying humble, waiting for these schools to come in and figure out what school is the right one for me.”

Before we get to that point, O’Rourke still has two years to make an impact at the high school level.

“Caden actually played and got a sack in the playoffs as a freshman. And then he was arguably our best defensive lineman, along with David Wuske last year, started off 14 games as a sophomore and had a great sophomore year. And, you know, now coming back, it’s almost like he’s a super senior for us already,” Lincoln-Way East coach Rob Zvonar said. “It’s hard to believe we still got him for two years.

“I think before it’s all said and done, he’s going to have a choice to go anywhere in the country. And he just continues to get bigger, stronger and faster. And he’s everything you could ask for from an edge rusher at the high school level.”

Skill aside, O’Rourke was more of a complimentary player last season behind a more experienced defensive core that surrounded him, but to his credit he fully expects and welcomes more of a leadership role for the Griffins this season.

“The coaches also pushed that to where we have to take over the defense,” O’Rourke said. “We have to tell each other when we’re doing something right or something wrong. We have to make those decisions out there on the field, and you can’t have us asking our coaches.”

O’Rourke’s also expects to enter his junior season with a higher sense of confidence in what he needs to do to help the Griffins defense reach its full potential.

‘I’m 100% more confident. It is just knowing how to play our defense and just having that kind of history,” O’Rourke said. “It’s making you feel more confident in being able to make decisions faster, because you have a better idea of what to expect and how to react to it.”