2026 LB Talanoa Ili Talks Top 7, Notre Dame
Talanoa Ili has trimmed dozens of scholarship offers down to seven; Notre Dame, USC, UCLA, Oregon, BYU, Texas and Oklahoma.
“I've built great relationships with all seven of those schools,” the 2026 California linebacker says. “I'm excited to go on my OVs and check them out and see what makes each one of them different.
“I think it'll help me out a lot now that I can focus. Once the OVs are done, I think I'll be able to look back at the drawing board, see where I fit best, and see where I could go and see myself.”
The Orange Lutheran standout has already made unofficial visits to USC, UCLA, Oregon and Oklahoma and acknowledges he feels most confident about those schools right now because he has been on campus.
“Other than that, this is a close race,” Ili says.
The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder will be seeing all seven schools for official visits between May and June.
Ili will kick things off with an official to UCLA (May 10th) followed by BYU (May 27th), Oklahoma (June 6th), Notre Dame (June 10th), Texas (June 13th), USC (June 17th) and Oregon (June 22nd).
Ili is ready for a busy couple months, but really had no other option than stacking them so tightly.
“With the available dates those were the only ones available, so we'll see how that goes and hopefully by the end I'll be able to compare and contrast where I want to go,” he says.
He has a firm idea of what he’s looking for.
“Just a place where I feel like I could get the best out of myself and a place where I see myself in the future thriving and getting the best version of Talanoa Ili,” he says.
He doesn’t intend to make a final decision until the fall, but isn’t sure exactly when.
As for the Irish, they’ve done a good job building a relationship with him and showing him how much of a priority he is.
“Coach Marcus Freeman came to our school one of the first days that they were on the road and a week before, he was competing for the national championship,” says Ili. “That really meant something to me when he came to my school and had a sitdown, talk with me and the linebackers coach, the wide receivers coach.
“It really made me feel like a priority at Notre Dame.”
Ili doesn’t have any specific questions he wants answered or anything specific he wants to learn about when he gets to South Bend.
“I just want to see everything for myself, see how it is in person.”
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