Quarterback Drew Viotto, who was born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario and moved to Metro Detroit in seventh grade, has committed to the Golden Gophers of Minnesota. Viotto is one of only a handful of Canadian Quarterbacks that have committed to a Power 5 school in the USA.

One of the first was Jesse Palmer, originally from Ottawa who played at Florida over 20 years ago. Matt Hale of Windsor played at Syracuse, Dan Lumley from Windsor committed to Kentucky, Mike O’Conner from Toronto committed to Penn State, before returning to Canada to play at UBC and most recently Christian Veilleux from Ottawa is currently playing at Penn State, where he is competing to be the starter.

Viotto, who had multiple Division 1 offers from Maryland, Syracuse, Marshall, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Kent State along with others was originally committed to Eastern Michigan but de-committed once offered by Minnesota in May after a great performance at his high school’s recruiting showcase. Viotto, a 6’4 225 lb senior, had other Power 5 interest from Wake Forest and Georgia Tech but he decided to commit to Minnesota as he loves what they are doing with the offense and also built a relationship with offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarocca.

Viotto, a pro-style QB, is ranked as a consensus three-star recruit and the No. 19 recruit from Michigan for the Class of 2023 by 247Sports.

As a junior last season for Walled Lake Western high school, Viotto passed for 2,126 yards and 22 touchdowns, completing 70% of his passes, according to 247Sports. He is the eight player in the Class of 2023 to commit for the Gophers, joining his high school teammate, running back Darius Taylor.

“I am super excited and grateful to announce my commitment to the University of Minnesota to continue my academic and athletic career as well as to continue playing with my teammate Darius Taylor,” Viotto tweeted. “I can’t wait to work with Coach [P.J.] Fleck, [offensive coordinator Kirk] Ciarrocca and the rest of the staff.”