Winning.
Rochell was busy with a state semifinal game with his Eagle's Landing Christian Academy football team a week before winning the GHSA Class A Private State Championship the next week in Atlanta's Georgia Dome.
Bivin was busy with a basketball game against a cross-county rival. With Bivin's help, Owensboro (Ky.) Apollo defeated Daviess County by one point.
Now, the two will use their official visits this weekend, less than three weeks before national signing day.
"They wanted all the 2013 commits to get to go to the banquet, but looking at how our team was doing through the year, I didn't want to schedule it," Rochell said Monday. "I definitely didn't want to have that type of attitude during the season where I was more worried about college than I was high school. We ended up winning the state championship that next weekend so it worked out well."
Rochell's team finished the season with 13 straight wins to win its first state championship since 1996. He was sidelined for four games in the middle of the season with a broken hand, but returned to a dominant defense that allowed just 41 points combined over the season's final nine games.
His hand has since fully healed and he's continuing to work on regaining even strength in both arms.
Last week when news of Brian Kelly's interview with the Philadelphia Eagles broke, the defensive end prospect was contacted by a few schools to see if he was wavering in his ND commitment. Rochell said he told those programs that he's 100 percent committed to Notre Dame and his recruiter, tight ends coach Scott Booker.
"I was frustrated," Rochell said of Kelly's NFL interview. "It was kind of one of those things like, 'Come on now, Coach.' It all worked out. I understand he has a family. He has goals just like I do. It is what it is. I'm just happy he's staying. Hopefully they extend his contract long enough where he won't leave while I'm there. But if he does, no problem. It's not that big of a deal."
Part of what has kept Rochell hanging on to Notre Dame comes from his relationship with Booker. He's made an impact on Rochell in his first year as a full-time coach and recruiter at Notre Dame.
"If he stays at Notre Dame and coach Kelly stays, I feel like he'll do tremendous things from a recruiting aspect for the football team," Rochell said. "He really is a good recruiter. I didn't even realize it at the time, but now I see how he deals with Andrew Williams and can see how he's a really good recruiter."
Williams, a junior defensive end teammate of Rochell, has been offered by the Irish and will join Rochell this weekend in South Bend for an unofficial visit.
Bivin, an offensive lineman commit, will take a break from averaging 10 points and 10 rebounds per game in his senior basketball season to visit his future home.
The Under Armour All-America Game on Jan. 4 already took Bivin away from his team for more than a week earlier in the season. Trying to stay ready for a football game in the middle of the basketball season made for a slow start to hoops.
"Usually during basketball season I'll lose about 15-20 pounds and go down to 280 to play. But I tried to keep all my weight on and stay around 300 to go into the Under Armour Game," Bivin said. "It was a little rough the first games of the season, but now I'm getting back into basketball shape, getting my legs back under me."
During the Under Armour Game, Bivin played center for his team, a position he's played only sparingly after learning the spot as a sophomore. He was also named a captain of his team.
"It was a lot of fun. I went in and was treating it like a measuring stick to see how I did before going to college," Bivin said. "Those aren't college offensive linemen yet, but they're the best at my level. I think I did pretty well."
He spent a lot of time with running back Tarean Folston, who ended up committing to the Irish during the week of practice before the game. Bivin and Folston had known each other since playing together on Team USA in the summer.
"Tarean and I, we formed a quick friendship," Bivin said. "He's my kind of guy. He's not real loud and obnoxious or cocky. I like him a lot. He's a down-to-earth kind of guy. He likes his linemen so that's always good from a running back."
As schools started to reach out to Bivin after Kelly interviewed with the Eagles, Bivin shooed them away and insisted he was committed to the school. Now he'll get to use his official visit to the school he's dreamed of playing for since his childhood.
"Notre Dame's the best head coaching job in the country," Bivin said. "I don't know why he'd leave. I didn't think he was going to leave to begin with, but even if he did, I was still going to go to Notre Dame."
Staff writer Tyler James:
tjames1@sbtinfo.com
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