Notre Dame holds off SMU and lands commitment from Texas DL Tiki Hola

Notre Dame has On3’s No. 4 ranked recruiting class and on Saturday afternoon head coach Marcus Freeman and the Irish landed another top target.

Bastrop (Texas) High defensive lineman Tiki Hola announced his pledge to Notre Dame, choosing to play his college football in South Bend over his other finalists in SMU and USC.

The 6-foot-3, 285-pound Hola becomes commit No 15 for Freeman and ND in the 2026 cycle. He was recruited by future position coach Al Washington.

Hola was last on the Notre Dame campus for the spring game.

“The Notre Dame environment is always on fire,” Hola said. “A few of my favorite things is how live the culture is, how genuine every one is and to see all the fans there for the Blue-Gold game was awesome! It was a beautiful day in South Bend.”

Hola also highlighted what stands out about ND.

“The numerous opportunities that I would have with my life after football. I enjoyed meeting and talking to former football players over the weekend and to hear where they are at now in their lives and their journey and what ND did for them.”

As a junior, Hola racked up 102 tackles. A high-motored point of attack player, he had 10 stops for loss and three forced fumbles.