No. 9 College Football QB Recruit is Back on the Market Amid National Interest

The decision that more than a few recruiting insiders expected might come has in fact come, and suddenly there’s a very lucrative quarterback on the market at the 2027 college football recruiting cycle heats up this spring.

Four-star West Valley City (Utah) quarterback Kamden Lopati has decommitted from a rising Big Ten program, kick starting the effort by other schools to get involved in the race to earn the commitment of one of the top signal callers in this class.

So long, Illini

Lopati had been the highest ranked prospect committed to head coach Bret Bielema and Illinois in the 2027 cycle, but has now reversed course as other notable schools have entered the fray.

The signal caller would have been the highest rated recruit to sign with Bielema had he stayed on, and his interest in the school was a serious sign of how the program had grown under his tenure both on the recruiting front and in developing quarterbacks like Tommy DeVito and Luke Almyer.

In the end, the lure of bigger name programs, and in part the potential financial windfalls that could flow from them, are still enough to convince prospects to look in their direction, even away from a Power Four school that has played good football recently, in particular at the quarterback position.

Who is the quarterback considering?

Right now, the big leader appears to be Michigan, which has offered the quarterback as new head coach Kyle Whittingham looks to secure an impact skill player.

Michigan is said to have made Lopati a top priority, going back to the previous staff under former head coach Sherrone Moore and former co-OC and QBs coach Kirk Campbell.

The interest has been mutual, as Lopati has stated how impressed he is with the prestige and history of the Wolverines program, and how honored he was to receive an offer from UM.

Other schools like Notre Dame, Florida, Tennessee, Stanford, and Cal have also expressed interest, but the consensus of expert opinion holds that Michigan has the decisive advantage.

Lopati is a solid producer

Major programs’ interest in Lopati follows a varsity career of proven production on the field, culminating in a 2,671-yard, 34 touchdown performance as a junior.

Lopati helped lead his team to the 5A semifinals in the state of Utah this past football season after compiling an 11-2 overall record, emerging as the No. 2 prospect in the state and the No. 9 quarterback nationally, according to an average of the national recruiting services.

A noted dual threat, too

A capable dual threat prospect, Lopati ran the ball 90 times for 730 additional yards while averaging 8.1 yards per carry and scored another 10 touchdowns.

The year before, his first season as a starting quarterback, Lopati had 3,050 yards passing while hitting 67 percent of his attempts with 25 touchdowns and four interceptions.

A multi-sport athlete, Lopati ran the 100 meter dash in 11.98 seconds and the 200 meter dash in 24.91 seconds as a freshman in high school.

(Rivals)