A familiar name to Oregon fans will suit up for the Ducks in 2027.
Linebacker Sam Ngata of Olympus High School in the Salt Lake City suburbs has committed to play for Oregon, he announced Saturday evening. Ngata is the son of Haloti Ngata, an outstanding defensive lineman for the Ducks in the mid-2000s who later reached five Pro Bowls with the Ravens.
"I grew up wanting to be a Duck," Ngata told Matt Prehm of 247Sports in 2025. “My interest comes from being around the program as a little kid and just seeing how great Oregon is.”
247Sports and Rivals rate Ngata a three- and four-star recruit, respectively. He picked the Ducks over Michigan, Nebraska, UCLA, Utah and other schools.
Haloti—an All-American and the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year in 2005, becoming Oregon’s first winner of the latter award—was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2025.
The Ducks are coming off another excellent season, having gone 13-2 and shut out Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl. However, Indiana dismantled Oregon 56–22 in the Peach Bowl, exposing the Ducks’ continued inability to get over the hump and win their first national championship.
College football being college football, Oregon’s 2027 opener—a home date with Eastern Washington-is already on the schedule for Sept. 4 of that year.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Sam Ngata, Son of Oregon and Ravens Great Haloti Ngata, Commits to Ducks.
