Notre Dame laid another length in its Polynesian pipeline today when linebacker Kahanu Kia announced his commitment. The 6’2″, 220-pound Hawaiian hails from Punahou, which is also the alma mater of current Irish linebacker Marist Liufau and former Irish players Manti Te’o and Robby Toma. Perhaps not coincidentally, Toma is currently an assistant at Punahou as well. Kia also is the sixth player of Hawaiian origin to commit to Notre Dame in the five cycles since Te’o recruiter Brian Polian (Poly-an?) rejoined the staff in December 2016; the others are Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa (2017), Paul Moala (2018), Liufau (2019), Jordan Botelho (2020), and Aidan Keanaaina (2020). If the staff has it way they’ll add another in the 2022 cycle, four-star Punahou LB Tevarua Tafiti. Stay tuned on that one.

Besides the Hawaiian connection, the other important thing to note here is that Kia is a double Utah legacy; his father Nate was a defensive lineman for the Utes from 1993-96. Notre Dame is Notre Dame, sure, but Utah of course has a strong history with Poly players and LDS players. It’s quite an accomplishment for the Irish staff to overcome those factors plus both parents having attended the school. Kia will reportedly not take a mission and arrive on campus in 2021, for what it’s worth. I’m not sure if he’s postponing it or, like Te’o, doing his mission work in South Bend. But he’ll be with the program next fall.

Recruiting Service Rankings

247Sports Composite — 3 star (.8466 rating), #1162 overall, #74 OLB, #6 in HI

247Sports — 3 star (86 rating), NR overall, #61 OLB, #5 in HI

Rivals — 3 star (5.5 rating), NR overall, NR OLB, #9 in HI

ESPN — Not evaluated

Irish Sports Daily — 3 star (89 rating)

Cohort

In addition to Notre Dame and Utah, Kia holds offers from Arizona, Colorado, Dartmouth, Princeton, Stanford, UCLA, and Washington State, among others.

Highlights

Given that his promise rests mostly on athleticism right now, I don’t think a three-star rating for Kia is unfair. But man, you watch this tape and you have to wonder about checking in at #1162 in the 247 Composite. Check the play at the 0:37 mark, where Kia is initially in deep coverage zone. At 0:40 he realizes he has nobody to cover and the quarterback is starting to scramble – at that point they’re separated by 27 yards. Kia screams downhill, under control, and brings the quarterback down for a loss six yards from where he started to scramble. The play before that he showed nice bend to dip under the right tackle and get a big sack.

He’s also quite effective at picking his way through traffic in the box. He shows enormous hustle in making a few chase down plays. He has excellent closing speed, again and again. Great awareness in zone coverage and soft hands when the ball comes his way. He hits people and they, well, they stay hit. He even shows tremendous burst through the hole on the one carry he has on here (at 3:38). I think he plays a bit high and will need some work on taking on blocks in run defense, but there’s an awful lot to like here in the way of raw material.

Impact

Notre Dame is set up pretty well at linebacker in 2021, with a game-tested group that includes Drew White, Bo Bauer, Shayne Simon, Jack Kiser, Isaiah Pryor, Paul Moala, and Jack Lamb. it’s very unlikely that Kia would be needed right away; beyond 2021 it’s hard to say at this point, but I do think he’s a potential multi-year contributor at the very least. He has the physical tools and attitude to push to be a starter at some point too.

Welcome to the Irish family, Kahanu!