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Wisconsin gets a commitment from safety transfer Kamo'i Latu of Utah

The Badgers landed a commitment from Utah safety Kamo'i Latu on Friday.

Matt Belz

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Needing extra depth at the safety position after senior safety Travian Blaylock went down with a leg injury during spring ball, the Wisconsin Badgers extended an offer to Utah transfer Kamo'i Latu last weekend.

A close friend and former high school teammate with Wisconsin outside linebacker Nick Herbig, Latu quickly lined up a visit to Madison this week, and as of Friday he is officially the newest member of the team.

Latu's commitment to the Badgers is significant on a number of levels.

For one, he provides an experienced insurance policy for Jim Leonhard and the Wisconsin defense in the event Blaylock is unable to return for the 2022 season.

However, more importantly, Latu has three years of eligibility remaining, which makes him a viable candidate to start in 2023 alongside Hunter Wohler if seniors Travian Blaylock and John Torchio do not come back via the COVID-19 waiver.

Latu joined Utah as part of the 2020 recruiting class, and the sophomore safety saw action in 14 games last season with the Utes as a redshirt freshman. He recorded 19 tackles and three pass breakups as a rotational player in the defensive backfield, including a 10 tackle performance against USC that garnered him Pac-12 freshman defensive player of the week honors.

A native of Hawaii, Latu played high school football at Saint Louis High School in Honolulu and was a three-star recruit with offers from Colorado, Hawaii, Nebraska, Oregon State, USC, Virginia, Washington, and Washington State before his commitment to Utah.

According to All Utes, Latu was putting together a strong spring before his transfer, and on film, he appears to be a physical hitter with some impressive athleticism.

The Badgers exited spring ball in need of added depth at safety, and it took only a couple of weeks for Jim Leonhard and the staff to find a potential answer for the fall. 

Overall, Latu is the sixth player added to the roster via the transfer portal since the end of the 2021 season. 

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Matt Belz
MATT BELZ

Title: Publisher, Beat Writer for AllBadgers.com, a Sports Illustrated Channel Hello, my name is Matt Belz, and I am the site manager at All Badgers. I previously wrote for multiple years at Buckeyes 5th Quarter and have been the leading publisher here since March of 2022.  When I am not covering the Wisconsin Badgers football and men's basketball teams, I enjoy being outside and spending time with family and friends.  You can follow everything I write about on several different platforms. First and foremost on our site...AllBadgers.com You can follow me personally on Twitter at @savedbythebelz or check out our Facebook page at Wisconsin FanNation on Sports Illustrated.

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