The golden era of Michigan football from 2021-23 was built largely through the trenches. Sherrone Moore, the offensive line coach during that time, is now the Wolverines head coach and reinvesting in the position.
Malakai Lee, a four-star offensive tackle from Honolulu, Hawaii (Kamehameha High School) committed to the Wolverines on Friday, June 27, in a news conference at his high school.
“Michigan is o-line university,” Lee said on the live streams “I think Sherrone Moore being the head coach and Grant Newsome being the O-line coach, you have two line coaches being able to coach you up so I definitely looked at that in terms of development.
“I knew in the back of my head I loved Michigan and loved Ann Arbor, so the official visit just gave me clarity on everything and I can say with a strong heart that I wanted to go to Michigan.“
His pledge marks a tremendous head-to-head victory for offensive line coach Grant Newsome over some of the sport’s other greatest powers. Lee’s final four also consisted of Alabama, Georgia and Texas.
Lee reportedly took official visits to all four schools since April 10, with U-M getting the final look at him in Ann Arbor over the June 20-22 weekend, which is what seemed to solidify his decision.
Lee stands 6 feet 6 and 320 pounds, is the No. 2 overall player in Hawaii in the 2026 class, per 247Sports’ composite rankings, the No. 10 offensive tackle and the No. 137 overall prospect.
“From a traits standpoint, offensive linemen don’t come much better looking than Lee,” wrote 247Sports national recruiting analyst Greg Biggins after seeing Lee in March. “He’s a fluid mover as well and has the feet, balance and frame to project as a tackle and could line up on either side, right or left in college.
“He’s an easy high Power 4 prospect and if he hits his ceiling, he will be playing football for a very long time.”
Lee is the third offensive lineman to commit to U-M in the class, joining four-star interior lineman Bear McWhorter and three-star tackle Marky Walbridge.
🔵🟡Last OV finished in Ann Arbor. Thank you @UMichFootball@Coach_SMoore@grant_newsome@CoachNGilbert@SamPopper_ and the entire team for all the love that they showed my family and I. GO BLUE!!! 〽️〽️ pic.twitter.com/4j8QRASBNQ
— Malakai Lee (@MalakaiLee2) June 25, 2025
Michigan’s class ranked No. 12 in the country prior to Lee’s commitment, according to 247Sports’ composite rankings. It just added its sixth top-200 player in the country out of its 15 commits, picking up seven prospects in June.
Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football recruiting: Malakai Lee, 4-star OT, joins 2026 class