BREAKING: Notre Dame has landed its second defensive back in three days, with four-star St. Thomas Aquinas (FL) standout Zayden Gamble announcing his commitment to the Fighting Irish on Saturday night.
He chose Notre Dame over finalists Florida, Miami, and Ohio State.
Regarded as a consensus four-star, Top 200 prospect, and Top 16 safety in the 2027 class, Gamble was mostly connected to his other finalists throughout the earlier parts of his recruitment, but after he visited South Bend for the first time over the weekend of March 21, his race flipped entirely.
“Notre Dame, it’s kind of like the St. Thomas Aquinas blueprint,” Gamble told Zach Blostein. “The standard, the structure in it all — it just reminds me of the place I grew up and started, which is here. The brotherhood in that locker room is just a place where you want to be invested in. The coaches are just great people as well.”
In 27 games over the last three seasons for the Raiders, Gamble has tallied 92 tackles, three tackles for a loss, seven interceptions (one pick-six), five passes defended, a forced fumble, and a blocked field goal on special teams.
Notably, Gamble is close friends with teammate and fellow top Notre Dame target, Julius Jones. As Tom Loy wrote in his recent Notre Dame recruiting feature: ‘Don’t be surprised if teammates and best friends, Gamble and Julius Jones, end up with the Fighting Irish.’
Gamble’s pledge gives Notre Dame 10 commitments in the 2027 class, and four pledged defensive backs. He joins four-star corners Ace Alston and Xavier Hasan, and three-star safety/nickel John Gay, who committed to Notre Dame on Wednesday.
In the composite team rankings, Notre Dame’s class ranked No. 9 nationally with 174.64 points before Gamble’s announcement, wedged between Kentucky (184.34) and Washington (174.63).
With the Florida four-star factored into the class, the 247Sports class calculator projects the Irish will leap to the No. 6 spot nationally with 190.22 points, just ahead of Louisville (189.01 points) and behind Ohio State (199.47 points).
Gamble’s junior season highlights can be viewed in the embedded clip below.