2025 LB Ko’o Kia commits to Notre Dame football
Honolulu Punahou class of 2025 linebacker Ko’o Kia arrived to Notre Dame on Friday for a unique visit.
His time in South Bend was twofold; he was there as a recruit who has a handful of Power Five offers and also as the younger brother of a Notre Dame player (Kahanu Kia) who returned to the school after a two-year Mormon mission trip.
He had a full recruiting experience for the first 36 hours or so while on campus. And then on Monday, he had more meetings with the staff, which included a sit-down conversation with Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman. And the leader of the Fighting Irish program sealed the deal for the commitment to take place.
Kia announced his decision to commit to the Fighting Irish on Monday night.
For a kid from Hawai’i, the frigid tempers in South Bend the past few days were far from ideal. But that definitely didn’t stop Kia from having a good experience on campus.
“It was awesome,” he told Blue & Gold. “I got to meet with pretty much all of the coaches. I got to see their presentations, all of the facilities and everything. I talked to the new strength coach (Loren Landow), and he seems awesome. He really got me fired up.”
With Kia being the only recruit on campus over the weekend (to our knowledge), the staff was able to roll out the red carpet for Kia and spend a lot of time with him.
“I got to talk with Coach Freeman, and that was a great conversation,” Kia continued. “I had a talk with Chad Bowden, and that really opened my eyes to how great Notre Dame is outside of football. That was big for me, because that stuff is important to me. Obviously, I love football, but the game doesn’t last forever. I got to see the basketball game, and that was cool.”
Kia ranks as the nation’s No. 623 overall prospect and No. 57 linebacker per the 2025 On3 Industry Ranking. On3’s own rankings list him as the the No. 55 linebacker in the land and as the No. 2 prospect from his home state of Hawaii.
Texas, Oregon, California, Hawaii, Nebraska, Utah and USC are among his other scholarship offers.
During his junior season, Kia posted 73 stops (17 for loss), 8 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries, 7 pass breakups, 1 interception and 1 touchdown. He was named to the Hawaii 2023-24 Open Division Football All-Star team.
Kia comes from the same high school that produced 2012 Heisman runner-up and Notre Dame legendary linebacker Manti Te’o.
His older brother, Kahanu, played in two games for the Irish in 2021. Kahanu made four tackles against Navy and appeared in the game against Toledo. He returns to Notre Dame with four years of eligibility. He only played in two games back in 2021 and his eligibility clocked pause while on his two-year mission.
“He loves it,” Ko’o said of his older brother’s return to South Bend. “He’s happy to be back at Notre Dame and is really excited.”
Their father, Nate Kia, played for the Utah Utes in the mid-90s. The elder Kia is currently Ko’o’s head coach at Punahou and was named the Hawaii 2023-24 Open Division Football coach of the year.
Notre Dame has 14 commitments in the 2025 class with Kia in the fold, and he is the second linebacker of the class, joining Illinois’ product Dominik Hulak.
