Notre Dame Target Kamden Lopati Decommits From Big Ten Team

With the NFL Draft less than two weeks away, the college football recruiting landscape had slowed down a little bit, but that all changed on Monday when four-star quarterback Kamden Lopati decommitted from Illinois.

🚨BREAKING🚨 4-star QB Kamden Lopati has decommitted from Illinois, @Hayesfawcett3 reports.

Read: https://t.co/agOwrUmlaD pic.twitter.com/RVxoMwFPw8
— Rivals (@Rivals) April 13, 2026

Lopati, who will be a senior this fall at West High School in Utah, is ESPN's No. 2-ranked quarterback in the 2027 class and had been committed to Illinois since July.

Multiple sources have Lopati signing with Michigan, but Notre Dame is still heavily in the mix. ND hosted him last month, and the gunslinger even referred to Notre Dame as his "dream school" in an interview with On3/Rivals Vice President Steve Wiltfong.

Initial reaction

Until a recruit is signed, nothing is set in stone. Just ask the Illini. Lopati had been committed to Illinois for nine months, yet he kept on visiting schools, so that should tell you everything you need to know.

I'm not going to speculate on what the turning point was for Lopati -- playing time, NIL, long-term future, etc. -- but clearly something changed, and it had to have been fairly recent. And that's good news for the Irish, even if rival Michigan is the favorite to land him.

Maybe another visit to South Bend will do the trick, or another National Championship Game appearance for the Irish and a third straight season with less than 10 wins for the Wolverines will sway Lopati's mind, but with him no longer committed to Illinois, I'm not convinced Notre Dame doesn't have a decent shot.

Kamden Lopati's background

The 6-foot-3, dual-threat quarterback led the Panthers to the state semifinals after completing nearly 65% of his passes (64.8%) for 2,671 yards and 34 touchdowns and rushing for 730 yards and 10 scores as a junior. And the year before that, as a sophomore, Lopati threw for over 3,000 yards (3,050) and 25 touchdowns and rushed for 647 yards and three touchdowns.

Lopati has 24 scholarship offers and despite having plenty of time before he needs to make a decision, I wouldn't be surprised if he commits to a new school fairly soon. More often than not, when a player decommits from a school, that player commits to another school fairly soon, and I don't expect Lopati to be any different.

What Notre Dame must do if Lopati signs elsewhere

Outside of picking up the phone and asking Lopati if he's interested in visiting South Bend again, nothing really changes on the quarterback recruiting front for ND. The Irish still don't have a quarterback in their 2027 recruiting class, and that's not ideal.

Obviously, Notre Dame still has plenty of time to find a quarterback for the 2027 class, but the longer ND has to wait, the more likely the top high school quarterbacks will sign elsewhere.

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