Notre Dame LB signee Nile Sykes headed to Indiana

Reports of an impending transfer for linebacker Nile Sykes came to fruition Friday.

Sykes will attend Indiana in the fall and be immediately eligible to play as a freshman in 2014, according to an Indiana release Friday.

The 6-2, 220-pound recruit signed with Notre Dame in February and reportedly enrolled in summer classes in mid-June. Notre Dame released Sykes from his National Letter of Intent, according to the IU press release.

“After (head) coach (Brian) Kelly and Notre Dame released Nile from his NLI, he reached out to us,” IU head coach Kevin Wilson said in a statement. “We recruited Nile hard and he was a guy we really wanted. We are happy to have him and welcome him into our program.”

Sykes, a three-star prospect, tallied 80 tackles, 22 tackles for a loss and 12 sacks as a senior at Montini Catholic in Lombard, Ill. Rivals ranked him as the No. 20 inside linebacker in the 2014 class. 247Sports slated him as the No. 34 outside linebacker in the class. Sykes was not expected to make an immediate impact as a freshman at Notre Dame.