It's usually a good sign when you’re a wide receiver and your nickname is Ferrari.
Kamren Flowers earned that moniker, naturally, because of his blazing speed.
It’s what caught the attention of Toledo’s coaches when they first watched the 5-foot-11, 170-pound receiver from West Bloomfield (Mich.) High School. And the interest was mutual. His first official visit was to Toledo, and high school buddies Laith Shamma and Tashi Braceful put on a full-court press for the Rockets.
On Tuesday, Flowers made clear that he was more than just interested in Toledo — the 2025 four-star wide receiver committed to UT over offers from Wisconsin, Michigan State, and dozens of other power conference schools.
“[Wide receivers] coach [RJ] Fleming and coach [Jason] Candle did a great job on the visit showing that I’m a priority for them,” Flowers said. “It felt like home, so that’s what I wanted to make it.”
The commitment was the latest in a productive summer for Toledo, which is putting together one of its top classes after assembling the highest-rated Mid-American Conference class in history last year. The Rockets are currently ranked No. 69, ahead of Colorado, Vanderbilt, Oregon State, Boise State, San Diego State, the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Memphis, Tulane, Liberty, and Marshall.
Flowers is a top 50 wide receiver nationally, according to 247Sports, and the sixth-ranked player overall in the state of Michigan.
The top five are going to Louisiana State, Michigan, Pittsburgh, and Kentucky and seven through 12 are going to Michigan State, Northwestern, and Rutgers. Flowers is the highest-ranked player in UT’s 2025 class.
“Kam is a really good pickup for Toledo,” said Allen Treiu, a Midwest recruiting analyst for 247Sports. “He has game-breaking speed, and Michigan has always been an important state for Toledo in recruiting. I’m not surprised by the commitment only because I had heard earlier in the summer that he was beginning to like Toledo more and more.”
Last season, Flowers had 14 touchdowns and 1,066 all-purpose yards. He averaged more than 17 yards per reception. He has been clocked at 4.38 in the 40 and 10.6 in the 100-meter dash.
Flowers made unofficial visits across the country to schools with more resources, better facilities, and greater exposure than Toledo: Michigan, Florida, Miami (Fla.), Wisconsin, Michigan State, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Illinois, Northwestern, Purdue, and Iowa State. Bells and whistles don’t compare to relationships, however, and Flowers kept returning to the family aspect and natural connection he had built with UT’s coaching staff.
“Honesty is really big with me,” Flowers said. “A lot of schools just try to gas your head up. Toledo was just very honest and upfront with me. I really prized that just knowing who’s real and who’s not. They said if you want to come here and you want to put in the work, it’s been shown with Quinyon Mitchell getting drafted in the first round. What the guys are buying into works. It’s showing. It’s something I want to be a part of.”
It’s a formula Toledo has used to its benefit for decades, especially in the Detroit area. Flowers attended Ann Arbor Huron his first two years of high school before transferring to West Bloomfield. The UT brand is not only familiar in metro Detroit, it resonates because of winning and area players thriving.
“This is where Toledo’s program enables it to make a lot of progress in the almost 20 years that I’ve been covering recruiting,” Trieu said. “They do a really good job of staying on top of recruits who have longer offer lists and build relationships with them to where this type of commitment is not unprecedented.”
In December, UT had a similar coup by flipping four-star athlete Zy’marion Lang, who originally committed to South Carolina as a defensive back. He’ll be a wide receiver for the Rockets and is expected to make an immediate impact as a true freshman.
Stories like Lang’s and the commitment of 2026 QB Bo Polston, who had offers from Georgia and Michigan, were present for Flowers.
“It’s a plus,” he said. “It gives me more hope that they prioritize guys. A lot of people buy into the big names. I did myself because I didn’t know better. But as I got older and really sat down and compared apples to apples, relationships stood out more than facilities or NIL. At the end of the day, I’m there to play ball. Whoever gives me the best opportunity to bring my name out is where I want to be.”
The answer, increasingly, is Toledo.
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