The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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34 THE WOLVERINE ❱ MARCH 2026 2026 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY ETHAN MCDOWELL Stress and doubt filled the last month of Malakai Lee's recruitment. The Top 100 tackle signed with Michigan in De- cember despite a strong push from Texas and began to prepare for his move to Ann Arbor in January as an early enrollee. Offensive line analyst Juan Castillo le the Wolverines shortly aer the Decem- ber signing day. Then, Michigan fired Sherrone Moore, and the program began a nationwide coaching search. At one point, he thought associate head coach Biff Poggi was going to lead the program moving forward. Ultimately, he was ex- cited to see U-M hire Kyle Whittingham. "All of the doubt goes away because that's such a Grade-A hire," Lee said. "I think very highly of Coach Whitt — he recruited me at Utah. Also, I'm LDS [Lat- ter Day Saints], and he's LDS. I know that he's in the right position, and we're going to be just fine." Lee is Rivals' No. 55 overall recruit and No. 8 offensive tackle in the country. Michigan, Georgia, Alabama and many others considered him an absolute top target over the past year. Whittingham prioritized him at Utah. Lee has fam- ily connections to the Utes, and they sent five staff members out to Honolulu to check in with the Kamehameha High standout around this time last year. Utah did not make it to the final stages of the elite tackle's recruitment, but he established a relationship that ended up playing a very important role in his deci- sion to stick with the Wolverines. "There were some schools pushing for me, and in the back of my mind, I was still thinking Michigan is the way to go," Lee said. "I said it before, and I'll say it again — those who stay will be champions." Everything from the end of his high school football career to signing day, fol- lowed by the coaching change, moved so fast. Lee decided to postpone his en- rollment, slow things down and join the Wolverines in June. The tackle and his family were happy to see the Whitting- ham hire work out the way it did. Lee felt good about his commitment but still had some questions about how the staff would shake out. Aer talking things over with Whittingham, he felt good about the program's direction. "I was good before that, but him call- ing me and talking to me on the phone, I realized that this is where I wanted to be," Lee said. Whittingham made it clear that he was excited to coach Lee. Hiring Jim Harding as the program's offensive line coach cer- tainly helped as well. "Oh, my goodness, where do I begin?" Lee said. "He has two of the best tackles in college football right now. I guarantee they're both going to end up going to the league in the first round." Lee admired what he saw from Utah standout Spencer Fano this season. He wants to bring the same "tenacity" and "energy" to Michigan's offensive line room under Harding. ❑ Massive Offensive Tackle Malakai Lee Is Excited About Coaching Hires Lee, a Rivals Top 100 prospect, was named the Gatorade Player of the Year in Hawai'i after his senior season. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS MALAKAI LEE OFFENSIVE TACKLE 6-7 • 350 KAMEHAMEHA SECONDARY KANEOHE, HAWAI'I RANKINGS STARS NAT. POS. STATE Industry ✪✪✪✪ 98 11 1 ✪✪✪✪ 55 8 1 ✪✪✪✪ 86 10 1 ✪✪✪✪ 255 28 2 HONORS • 2026 Navy All-American Bowl participant. • 2025 Polynesian Bowl All-Star. • Gatorade Player of the Year in Hawai'i (2025). • Rated a PrepStar Top 300 All-American as a senior. • 2025 Polynesian High School Player of the Year Award finalist. • 2025 Cover2 Marcus Mariota Award winner as the Hawai'i High School State Player of the Year. • 2024 Cover2 Olin Kreutz Award winner as the Hawai'i High School Football Lineman of the Year. • Preseason 2025 Sports Illustrated Hawai'i All- State team honoree. RECRUITMENT • Pledged to Michigan June 27, 2025. • Picked U-M over notable offers from Georgia, Alabama, Texas and USC. DID YOU KNOW? • Behind his blocking, the Warriors' scoring of- fense improved to 24.2 points per game in 2025 after averaging 17.9 in 2024. • Also lettered in basketball. • Great uncle, Chris Faumatu-Ma'afala, played fullback in the NFL for the Steelers and Jaguars. • Son of Keola and Amber Lee. • Born April 8, 2007. THEY SAID IT Rivals Director Of Scouting And Rankings Charles Power: "Malakai Lee is a huge offensive lineman. It's hard to find film on Malakai Lee. We've done as much digging as we can. After a lot of effort, we've seen a decent bit of film on him. The first thing that stands out about him is his size. He's a mountain of a prospect. He moves well at his size. He dwarfs the competition he plays, but he has the agility and reactive quickness you want to see." 2026 PROJECTION Lee looks like a future tackle right now at his towering 6-foot-7 height, but he stood out at guard during the Navy All-American Bowl and appears to have the ability needed to play four spots along the offensive line. Michigan is talented and deep at his position for 2026. Lee will likely redshirt before challenging for playing time in 2027.