{"id":182326,"date":"2025-07-05T02:24:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-05T02:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/182326\/"},"modified":"2025-07-05T02:24:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-05T02:24:12","slug":"four-star-wr-kaydon-finley-commits-to-notre-dame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/182326\/","title":{"rendered":"Four-star WR Kaydon Finley commits to Notre Dame"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aledo (Texas) High\u2019s Kaydon Finley<\/a> has announced his commitment to Notre Dame, giving the Fighting Irish a marquee wide receiver pledge in the 2026 class.<\/p>\n

Marcus Freeman<\/a> and Co. offered the four-star prospect in March 2024 and have had him as a priority target since. The Irish beat out Texas \u2014 his father\u2019s college team \u2014 as well as Arizona State, Texas A&M and UCLA, which were his other finalists.<\/p>\n

Finley made his Notre Dame decision public on the evening of July 4.<\/p>\n

He first saw Notre Dame in the 8th grade when his aunt graduated from the university. It was before his recruiting process got underway and well before he started talking to the Irish staff, but the environment of the school set the bar high.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s when I fell in love with Notre Dame,\u201d Finley told Blue & Gold<\/a> before making his decision public.<\/p>\n

Finley was one of 21 official visitors on campus for the June 13-15 weekend, and all the recruits who were in town have raved about the visit experience, with a key highlight being the time they spent with each other. This was very important to Finley as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I really knew Notre Dame was where I wanted to be was on my official visit,\u201d he added. \u201cThat set it in stone, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

But still, Finley, who ranks as On3\u2019s No. 120 overall player and No. 14 wide receiver in America, took an official visit to Texas the following weekend. Irish fans were concerned that the Longhorns getting the last visit would lead to momentum swinging back to Texas, but that\u2019s not what happened. <\/p>\n

\u201cNotre Dame is just different,\u201d Finley explained. \u201cThey recruit a certain type of kid. You have to be a special football player and person. When I went on my official visit, all the recruits clicked. And how the coaches and players got along with all of us set Notre Dame apart from Texas and the other schools. I had a great time at Texas, but it didn\u2019t feel as good as Notre Dame.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finley is Notre Dame\u2019s third receiver commitment, joining Savannah (Ga.) Benedictine Military School\u2019s Bubba Frazier<\/a> and Boca Raton (Fla.) Saint Andrew\u2019s School\u2019s Dylan Faison<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He is the Irish\u2019s 23rd commitment, nine of whom rank as top 120 players nationally per On3. Notre Dame has a blue-chip ratio nearing 85%, and the class ranks as On3\u2019s No. 2 in America.<\/p>\n

Finley goes in depth on Notre Dame commitment<\/p>\n

Blue & Gold\u2019s feeling on Finley\u2019s recruitment for the past few months has been that he was leaning strongly toward the Irish, but the in-state pull is real, and his father, Jermichael Finley, who starred for the Longhorns from 2005-07 before declaring for the NFL Draft, wanted his son to strongly consider Texas.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the beginning of the process, he was definitely leaning toward me going to Texas,\u201d Finley explained. \u201cBut as the process went on and my dad got up to Notre Dame, he fell in love with the place as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter my Notre Dame trip, he told me that this is my journey and to make the best decision for me. He said, \u2018I don\u2019t care if it\u2019s Notre Dame or Texas, but I really love Notre Dame and want you to know that.\u2019 It was important for him to tell me that, and I\u2019m glad it all worked out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finley visited Notre Dame six times, with two taking place in 2024 and the other four this calendar year. Eleven days before his South Bend official, the 6-0.5, 200-pounder unofficially visited campus with the main part of the trip focused on spending time with the current players, and it was also his dad\u2019s first trip to campus.<\/p>\n

The elder Finley loved his first visit to Notre Dame, and during the OV, he was pictured wearing<\/a> a Notre Dame hat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was surprised myself by that,\u201d Finley said with a laugh. \u201cBut he loved the place. He and Coach Freeman are best friends now. I\u2019m glad they got that connection going, too. It\u2019s going to be a good few years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finley\u2019s Texas official visit wrapped up on Sunday, June 22, and after a couple days of reflection and conversations with those close to him, he called up Freeman, wide receivers coach Mike Brown and recruiting office staffers Carter Auman and Justice Bathas to commit.<\/p>\n

He gave a shoutout to Auman and Bathas as key figures in his decision to pick the Irish.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re my best friends,\u201d Finley stated. \u201cI love those guys so much. They\u2019re family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finley\u2019s decision has been made. He\u2019s locked in with the Irish and won\u2019t be considering other schools moving forward. He\u2019ll graduate from Aledo High in December and enroll at Notre Dame in January.<\/p>\n

\u201cMan, I\u2019m so excited and relieved,\u201d Finley said. \u201cI\u2019m pumped about this class. I\u2019m going to be recruiting for Notre Dame, and I\u2019m going to work my butt off to get the best recruits in the country. I\u2019m excited to get this rolling with my guys.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur receiver class is special this year. I\u2019m close friends with the other receiver recruits too. I know we\u2019re going to push each other and play for one another. I\u2019m excited to go to war with my boys.\u201d<\/p>\n

What should Notre Dame fans know about Finley on and off the field?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to be involved in the South Bend community and give back,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m excited to be a part of the Irish family. If you support Notre Dame, then you\u2019re a part of my family, too. Notre Dame is getting a hard worker, and I\u2019d be willing to die for Notre Dame.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever Coach Brown and Coach Denbrock need from me, I\u2019ll do it. If it\u2019s blocking, going up for a deep ball or catching a screen, I\u2019ll make the play.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Kaydon Finley file<\/p>\n

In addition to his finalists, Finley also held scholarship offers from the likes of Georgia, Oregon, Miami, Tennessee, Penn State, Oklahoma, Auburn, Washington and many others.<\/p>\n

During his junior season in 2024, Finley hauled in 81 passes for 1,432 yards and 21 touchdowns. He helped Aledo reach the quarterfinal of the Texas 5A D1 with a 12-2 record and was named to the 2024 MaxPreps High School Football Junior All-America second-team offense.<\/p>\n

Finley was listed on the Texas Sports Writer Association Class 5A all-state first team offense and Texas High School Coaches Association 5A Football Super Elite Team.<\/p>\n

GM Sports Media named Finley its Parker County offensive MVP.<\/p>\n

As a sophomore the year prior, he posted 25 receptions for 417 yards and 6 scores. His squad had a perfect season and captured the 5A D1 state championship. Finley hauled in 3 passes for 89 yards and a touchdown in the title game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aledo (Texas) High\u2019s Kaydon Finley has announced his commitment to Notre Dame, giving the Fighting Irish a marquee…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":182327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[7,30585],"class_list":{"0":"post-182326","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-kaydon-finley-26-aledo"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114798255453763856","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}