Kyle Whittingham’s first real high school recruiting class at Michigan won’t come to fruition until December, but it’s already primed to have some flair from his home state.
On Tuesday, West High quarterback Kamden Lopati committed to the Wolverines as part of their 2027 recruiting class.
ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter, a Michigan graduate, broke the news on social media.
Lopati’s commitment to the Wolverines marks a big, albeit not entirely unexpected change in his recruiting process. Lopati committed to Illinois in July of 2025, which was seen at the time as a somewhat random move, as Illinois has not historically had a recruiting presence in the Utah high school football recruiting scene.
Lopati stayed true to his commitment for several months but has continued to receive scholarship offers and interest from top tier programs around the country.
On Monday’ On3’s Hayes Fawcett reported that Lopati had decommitted from Illinois, which came on the heels of a visit to Michigan last weekend.
The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Lopati is widely considered a top 10 quarterback prospect in the country in the Class of 2027. According to the Deseret News high school sports statistical database, Lopati has thrown for 5,807 yards with 59 touchdowns against 12 interceptions in his prep career thus far with a season to go.
While Michigan has taken seven players from Beehive State schools via the transfer portal since Whittingham left the Utah Utes for there in December, Lopati is the first prospect from the high school ranks from the state to commit to the Wolverines since then.
That number may well grow in the coming months, as several top Class of 2027 prospects from the state have scholarship offers from the school.