Speedy Tulsa WR Transferring to Minnesota

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New Minnesota Gophers transfer commitment Zion Steptoe - Tulsa
Credit: NATHAN J. FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Minnesota Gophers have been busy in the transfer portal since it opened on January 2, and they have shown no signs of slowing down. Friday night, PJ Fleck’s 2026 transfer class reached 15 players when Cincinnati WR Noah Jennings made his decision.

Then, Saturday morning, it was pushed to 16 when another wide receiver, this time Tulsa transfer Zion Steptoe, made his Golden Gopher commitment official. Steptoe spent the last two days touring the University of Minnesota.

Minnesota Gophers land commitment from Tulsa wide receiver

The shifty 5’11” pass catcher comes to Dinkytown with four years of college experience under his belt, and one year of eligibility remaining. Minnesota will be Steptoe’s second stop in the Big Ten. Before his time at Tulsa, he spent two seasons in West Lafayette as a Boilermaker.

Originally from the Frisco, TX area, Steptoe committed to Purdue in 2022 as an undersized 3-star (88 overall – 247Sports) wide receiver with a ton of burst. After falling out of favor in the WR room, he converted to cornerback for his redshirt freshman season.

That didn’t work either, so he transferred to Tulsa for the 2024 season, and moved back to wide receiver. Steptoe went on to rack up 923 snaps of WR experience over his two seasons as a Golden Hurricane, where he totaled 36 receptions for 475 yards and 13.2 yards/reception.

What should Gopher football fans expect from Zion Steptoe?

The MInnesota Gophers weren’t the only big time destination on Steptoe’s radar either. He visited UCLA prior to experiencing Dinkytown (Dec. 8-9), and then chose PJ Fleck as his coach one day later.

If his body wasn’t ready for week-to-week Big Ten combat while he was a 175-pound freshman at Purdue, that’s not the case anymore. At 195 pounds, Zion Steptoe now looks the part of a power four pass-catcher… and he plays like one too.

With just one season of eligibility remaining, we’ll see if Zion has the talent to play at this level, now that he’s a bit older. We shouldn’t have to wait until the season starts, either.

The Golden Gophers’ new wide receiver room is quickly filling up with talent, and he’ll have to prove himself just to get on the field in 2026. Steptoe is the third WR they’ve landed out of the portal so far this offseason.

Related: New Tight End Lands in Dinkytown for MN Gophers

He will come into training camp most likely behind incumbent wide receivers Jalen Smith and Javon Tracy, along with fellow transfer Perry Thompson (Auburn), who currently sits as the highest-rated commitment of Minnesota’s 2026 transfer class.

That means, at best, Zion Steptoe currently slots in as the MN Gophers’ WR4 next season, and that’s if you put him ahead (or equal to) yesterday’s commitment from Cincinnati Bearcat transfer, Noah Jennings — which most transfer portal rankings probably will not.

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