Notre Dame surges into lead for elite WR as July 4 commitment day speeds closer

The Notre Dame football team is back on one of its recruiting heaters. The Fighting Irish have already landed two more 4-star commits this week. Now it looks like they're the front-runner for outstanding wide receiver Kaydon Finley.

Finley, a 6-foot-0, 200-pound pass catcher out of Aledo (Aledo, TX), is considered inside the top 150 prospects, the No. 20 player in Texas, and the No. 18 wide receiver in the 2026 class according to the On3 Industry Rankings. In addition to the Golden Domers, Finley has offers from Texas, Texas A&M, UCLA, Louisville, Georgia, and Penn State, among many others.

Notre Dame football trending for WR Kaydon Finley ahead of July commit

Despite all the big teams going after Finley, On3's Max Torres entered a prediction that Kaydon Finley would pick the Notre Dame football team. And the best news about that is Marcus Freeman and company won't have to wait long because the big wide receiver has set July 4 as his commitment date.

The Fighting Irish still need to close the deal, and the Texas Longhorns look like the team that could most successfully stand in the way. Other than the obvious home-state ties, Texas could be the best competition because of quarterback commit Dia Bell. The gunslinger is gunning for some serious peer recruitment, and he's gone on record for saying he'd very much like to grab Finley for the Longhorns' 2026 class.

Steve Wiltfong said that Bell is working to get the wide receiver to join him in Austin. "Dia Bell, I saw him at the Elite 11 Finals this week. He's like, 'I think Kaydon and I could do special things together.' He can't wait to get around Kaydon Finley this weekend," Wiltfong said.

According to most recruiting analysts, the Notre Dame football team has a few more big commits up its sleeves. Kaydon Finley could be one of them early next month.