Earlier this week, momentum on the 2026 recruiting trail reached fever pitch when (4-star 91 OVR) athlete out of Jackson County, MN, Roman Voss, chose his hometown Gophers over the Alabama Crimson Tide, marking the third straight year PJ Fleck has received a commitment from the No. 1 overall recruit in the state of Minnesota.

But the week wasn’t over for Fleck and the boys, following the Voss’ commitment on Monday. There was another composite 4-star (.8984) Minnesotan — 6’5″, 195 lb (ATH) Pierce Petersohn, out of Triton High School — set to make his college decision this week too.

Pierce Petersohn stiff arms hometown Minnesota Gophers

Recently, Petersohn narrowed his list down to the Golden Gophers and Penn State Nittany Lions. He also held offers from Duke, Iowa, Iowa State and Kansas State.

Unfortunately, after starting the week off hot, Wednesday’s homegrown 4-star announcement halted Minnesota’s momentum a bit, when the teenager stiff-armed his hometown University in favor of taking his talents to State College, PA.

BREAKING: Four-Star TE Pierce Petersohn has Committed to Penn State, he tells me for @on3recruits

The 6’5 200 TE from Dodge Center, MN chose the Nittany Lions over Minnesota

“Happy Valley, see y’all soon!”https://t.co/HV9PmZVN0Y pic.twitter.com/RjyYGL66tw

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) June 25, 2025

Related: PJ Fleck, Minnesota Gophers Land No. 1 In-State Recruit (Again)

247Sports has Petersohn (ATH) — who stands at 6’5″, 195 lbs and played QB/FS at Triton — ranked as the 4th best high school football player in the state. Other recruiting sites like him even more. Of note, Penn State recruited the Dodge Center, MN product as a tight end.

Why Petersohn chose Penn State over Minnesota

And according to Andy Greder (Pioneer Press), that was a major factor in Pierce’s decision. In high school, Petersohn and the aforementioned Roman Voss both played quarterback for their respective smaller town schools. And it just so happens that both athletes project at the same offensive position in college, too.

Context: A deciding factor in four-star recruit Pierce Petersohn of Dodge Center, Minn., committing to Penn State over #Gophers: Nittany Lions plan to put him at tight end. Minnesota first made that position pledge to Roman Voss and penciled in Petersohn at linebacker, then TE.

— Andy Greder (@andygreder) June 25, 2025

In fact, the Minnesota Gophers also have another highly-rated tight end committed for 2026 — 6’5″, 220 lb 3-star, Gabe Weaver, out of the St. Louis area. Thus, Fleck & Co told Petersohn that, if he committed to the Gophers, come to campus as a OLB/EDGE defender first, and tight end second.

After promising Voss the tight end position, as part of his commitment earlier in the week, Petersohn didn’t want to give up on his tight end dreams, something you certainly cannot blame him for. Thus, he’s off to College Station.

There’s no arguing that high school recruiting has taken a backseat to the portal in modern day college football. But that doesn’t mean recruiting top high schoolers isn’t crucial to building a sustainable program.

Satellite camps are still held on campuses throughout the country throughout the offseason and coaches still travel from coast-to-coast throughout the year, meeting with high schoolers they are interested in. At the end of the day — transfer portal or not — you can’t make a good college athlete without playing high school first.

Minnesota Gophers land No. 1 in-state recruit, Roman Voss

But on Monday, they got their biggest commitment of the class, in Top 150 4-star recruit out of Jackson, MN, Roman Voss (ATH), who verbally committed to the Minnesota Gophers at 5 PM CDT, as scheduled.

The 6-4, 225 lb high school junior told Ryan Burns (247Sports) that he committed is staying home because of PJ Fleck and his coaching staff and the work they have put in to build a relationship with him going back to middle school.

All Glory To God. Home 🏠 https://t.co/YCWXCvyGQX

— Roman Voss (@romanvoss2) June 23, 2025

“They were my first ever offer, and they’ve been recruiting me the longest,” Voss explained as to why he ultimately chose Minnesota over Alabama. “And I just have a very, very good connection with tight ends coach Eric Koehler. I mean, that’s my guy. I love him. He loves me. And I think we have a really, really good connection. I think we’re going to do special things at Minnesota.”

Roman Voss (via 247Sports)

The ability to hit the transfer portal and be granted immediate eligibility with your new school has changed the game. Toss in the ability to make hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on the school’s financial wherewithal and player’s talent level, college football is now a second-tier professional football league.

And for now, it’s a league made up of one-year handshake contracts that may or may not be legally binding. Not only has the new landscape affected teams through the transfer portal, but it has made keeping top commits even more difficult.

What are the Gophers getting in Roman Voss

When Burns asked Voss whether or not he will hold his commitment through the end of the year, when National Letters of Intent are signed, the hometown kid made it clear that he has zero intentions on changing his mind, saying, “I’m now 100% committed”.

Voss — who played QB in high school — also confirmed in interviews with top recruiting sites that he is committed to the Minnesota Gophers as a tight end. He told Burns that the Gophers have a nice offensive package they’ve presented to him that includes plenty of time lined up out wide, and even some time as a wildcat QB.

Not only did he choose Minnesota over Alabama, but he also held offers from Auburn, Cal, Iowa, Iowa State, Illinois, Miami, Wisconsin, USC and Oklahoma (among others). For yet another recruiting class, PJ Fleck what many thought not that long ago was impossible.

As long as his commitment holds, Voss will join the last two top in-state high school recruits in Dinkytown. Koi Perich committed/signed in 2024 and 2023 top in-state recruit Jaxon Howard transferred back home following one homesick year at LSU.

At this point in history, collegiate sports are run by the transfer portal and NIL money. Rarely can incoming freshman make an immediate impact at the college level. But Perich proved last year that staying home can help make that immediate impact dream come true too.

Local or not, Fleck is reeling in the talent

But whether these kids make the trip then, or another time during the summer, the point is to show off the Land of 10,000 Lakes when it can be appreciated most. After the Voss commit, the Minnesota Gophers’ 2026 class now ranks 14th in the country.

New commits like Ryan Estrada (RB) and Trason Richardson (S) are from Texas. Josiah Anyansi (DL) is out of Cali. Others hail from Missouri and Ohio, which I promise have much different winters than Minnesota. These are recruits who committed this month, alone.

During PJ Fleck’s 8-year tenure in Dinkytown, the Gophers have only added to their “Running Back U” moniker, with guys like Rodney Smith, Shannon Brooks, and University of Minnesota all-time leading rusher, Mohamed Ibrahim.

The top running back on campus in 2025 will be junior, Darius Taylor, who’s 1,785 rushing yards through two seasons already have him ranked in the Minnesota’s modern-day (since 1955) top 20 all-time.

Minnesota Gophers receive commit from four-star running back

And on Tuesday, PJ Fleck and the Gophers got a commitment from a running back that could be the next to shoot up that prestigious list. Ryan Estrada is a 5’9″, 195 lb running back out of El Paso, TX.

Estrada currently carries .9023 four-star rating by 247Sports‘ composite rankings, which is a cumulative system based off of four different websites (ESPN, Rivals, 247Sports and On3).

1000% Committed🛶🛶 #RTB @GopherFootball @CoachJ_Everett @Coach_Fleck @Coach1Martinez @Coach_Macias @TopViewFit pic.twitter.com/K4vOILAx0D

— RYAN ESTRADA (@RyanEstrada_1) June 17, 2025

After visiting the U of M and surrounding areas over the weekend for the Gophers’ annual “Summer Splash” recruiting event, Estrada verbally committed to Minnesota on Tuesday, where he immediately became the second-highest rated composite commit for the Gophers’ 2026 class so far.

Not only will this kid increase the clout of PJ’s 2026 recruiting class, but Ryan Estrada will forever go down in history as Minnesota’s second-highest rated running back recruit ever, behind only Washburn’s Jeff Jones, who committed to his hometown school back in 2014 and remains the Gophers’ highest-rated commit of the internet era.

Uber-talented Ryan Estrada chooses Gophers over Alabama, Michigan, among others

That’s why Estrada chose the Golden Gophers over offers from a bevy of helmet schools, including Alabama, Michigan, Oklahoma, along with other prime contenders Missouri and Oklahoma State. Wisconsin had also offered.

As a junior at El Dorado High School in El Paso Texas, Estrada ran for 2,422 yards and 32 touchdowns. He averaged an absolutely insane 13.53 yards per carry. We’ll see if he tries to add more pass catching to his game, as a senior. Ryan totaled 9 receptions in 2024, along with 2 touchdowns.

There is a lot of time between now and 2026 National Signing Day, let along the end of Ryan Estrada’s career, which we all hope will begin and end at the University of Minnesota.

But in a perfect future, the Texas native will keep his commitment, then live up to expectations, eventually joining the likes of Darrell Thompson (1986-89), Marion Barber III (2001-04), Laurence Maroney (2003-05), David Cobb (2011-14) and the aforementioned Mohamed Ibrahim (2018-22).

Related: Minnesota Gophers Legend Signs Another Early Contract Extension with Ravens

And don’t forget about those who came before those legends, ball-carriers that helped make the game of football what it is today, including the OG Bronko Nagurski (1927-29), along with Bruce Smith (1939-41) and Paul Giel (1951-53). For now, though, let’s just hope he keeps this commitment.

But since the regular season ended, PJ Fleck & Co have made one thing very clear in the player acquisition department. Lack of NIL funds will no longer be used as an excuse to lose games or talent.

For the most part, Minnesota has kept all of their best players (who still have college eligibility) in Dinkytown, while simultaneously reeling in about a dozen more kids out of the transfer portal.

Minnesota Gophers get commitment from 2024 Louisiana Mr. Football, Xavier Ford

On Sunday, though, the Gophers dove back into the high school talent pool, and pulled out a 2024 Mr. Football winner — 3-star running back Xavier Ford — out of Leesville, Louisiana, who piled up 3,461 rushing yards and an unbelievable 52 rushing touchdowns this season, alone (MaxPreps), thanks to a bunch of absurd runs just like the one embedded below.

RTB! pic.twitter.com/BV5vX2dice

— Xavier Ford (@xavierford24) January 19, 2025

pic.twitter.com/V4DDfuWIuF @Colton_Leggett @CoachWEFritz @CoachHeck_ @coachbhays @alexm_brown @harrisonvapnek @davidmh__ @Coach_MarcusT

— Xavier Ford (@xavierford24) November 3, 2024

If you could choose one word that would best describe Ford’s high school football career, it would be ‘prolific’. Not only did the 5-9, 210 pound running back put up an entire life’s worth of yards and touchdowns just in 2024, but he racked up a total of 8,591 yards and an incredible 118 touchdowns, in three seasons at Leesville High (MaxPreps.com).

Despite all that production, Xavier Ford’s offer list is about as underwhelming as the Minnesota Gophers 2024 win total. Ford pounced on the Minnesota offer, which came this weekend while he was on an official visit. It’s the first power four offer he received, according to 247Sports. Xavier turned down Tulane, Air Force and Houston, but also had interest from LSU and Texas A&M.

Related: PJ Fleck Promotes Another Recent Player to Prominent Role on Gophers Coaching Staff

Ford is in the 2025 class, which means he will join the list of 21 new Minnesota Gophers who have signed their letter of intent. Some 2025 signees are already getting onto campus this month. Others will join when their senior years of high school come to a close this spring/summer. PJ Fleck now has 8 scholarship running backs on roster.

Early National Signing Day for NCAA football is one week from today (December 16) and the Minnesota Gophers will now have 18 signees. Luther McCoy is a big (6’4″, 290 lbs) defensive tackle from St. Augustine, FL. He’s the latest in a list of impressive 2021 DL commits that Chad Wilt and PJ Fleck pulled in.

Most, if not all of the 18 kids in this class are expected to sign National Letters of Intent next Wednesday. It’s always difficult to tell how good middling 3-star kids, like Luther McCoy, are but his highlight tape impressive. That swim move is devastating and he’s quick for such a big kid.

He chose Minnesota over offers from Florida State, Indiana, Nebraska, Ole Miss, Penn State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Baylor, Cincinnati, Coastal Carolina AND MANY OTHERS.

He might not have the stars but the offers are definitely there. McCoy missed his first two seasons of high school football, due to injury. That could explain some of it.

We desperately needed some good news as Minnesota Gophers football fans and we finally got it this afternoon with the first commit to the 2022 class. PJ Fleck and Co. couldn’t have gotten a much better start to the new recruiting class than what they got with DE, Trey Bixby.

Bixby is a huge (6’5″, 245lb) Junior-to-be and already has impressed a lot of scouts with what he has been able to do at the varsity level at such a young age. Allen Trieu of 247Sports.com is one of those scouts. He was impressed to see Trey start at such a prestigious high school (St. Edwards – Ohio), then put up the numbers he did.

First, Happy Birthday to my Mom! I’m not here today without you! ❤️ya

Second, thank you to every single school that showed interest in me or gave me an opportunity at a college education and to play at the next level.

With that said… ?〽️#RTB #SkiUMah #GoGophers #HYP22 pic.twitter.com/sN4wPqfinP

— Trey Bixby (@TreyBixby_91) August 13, 2020

To add to that, for me, being in the Midwest and having additional context, a sophomore starting at St. Eds alone is somewhat rare and then to have the impact he did is very notable when considering his ranking. When you watch his film, they are playing top teams with Division 1 guys across the line of scrimmage in almost every clip. 75 tackles, 13 hurries, 3.5 sacks, etc. against that schedule as a sophomore is very good.

Allen Trieu – 247Sports.com

The Start the 2022 Recruiting Class Needed

This is exactly how PJ needed to start the 2022 class…. with a BANG! You have to love the long note that Bixby delivered with his commitment. It was cool he took the time to thank all of those people personally.

And you can’t get anywhere in life without a little bit of petty. Everyone needs some petty to drive them. I know better than anyone.

Petty level 100 on the new #Gophers commit, Trey Bixby…. Love this. ? pic.twitter.com/n5yQz7ghVt

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) August 13, 2020

Impressive Tape

What I really like, though… is his tape. It’s obviously the first time I’ve ever seen Trey Bixby play and one of the first times I’ve ever heard of him, period. However, it doesn’t take long to see what makes him stick out.

His first handful of clips aren’t showing monster hits on QB’s or him blowing by offensive tackles. No, his first highlights show patience. He’s holding down the weak side of a play, he’s not getting burnt on counters, he’s not rushing too far up the field and he’s even sniffing out screens.

You can find film on all kinds of athletic freaks that have highlights of them destroying 17 year-old QB’s… but not everyone has the smarts of Trey Bixby. Not everyone is smart enough to include it in their highlight reel.

In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if Trey ends up on the inside of the line as he gets older and grows even more. If that were the transition, it seems as though he would shift inside quite nicely.

RTB Culture Wins Again

Trey also told 247Sports.com why he chose Minnesota and why he feels so good about his decision. Shocker… it’s PJ Fleck’s culture. He loves the openness and honesty displayed inside the program. He likes that Fleck allows players to speak their minds and unite around causes they support.

Like everyone who comes to play for PJ Fleck, Bixby is a smart kid who knows what he wants and what makes great players and even better humans. He’s excited to be a part of everything that is Minneapolis/St. Paul.

He mentioned the way the Minneapolis and St. Paul community came together after the protests and riots, was heartwarming and gave him a sense of togetherness that he hadn’t seen in a long time. He actually spent time with PJ Fleck and members of the Gophers, as they helped out throughout the community at that time.

Quote via 247Sports.com

“The culture of the football program and the community of the Minneapolis-St Paul area” were two items Trey opened with. “The opportunity to be so active and help in the community, the coaching staff embracing and encouraging players to speak freely or supporting various causes in the community all stood out to me.”

“I saw a community really rallying and uplifting each other during that time. Went to the George Floyd memorial site and we saw people of every race and ethnicity donating food and helping support each other. I felt a true sense of community for the first time since I was little,” Bixby explained as what stood out on the trip. “Just being there for one another, I saw a community that stood behind its members. I called Coach Fleck and Coach Wilt while we were in town and we had some very deep conversations on it. I also saw the player’s active in the marches as well. It was the support of the entire community, coaches and players included, that helped push me towards the decision of wanting to be a part of the program.”

Trey Bixby via 247Sports.com

Our Coach

I’ve said it before and I will say it again… PJ Fleck is the new-age coach that is needed to be successful. The structured freedom and family aspect of his program is unmatched. Those are things that today’s athletes take very seriously.

With PJ, that doesn’t come with a lot of off-the-field issues or players who are wanting to butt heads all the time. No, it’s about the freedom to be who you are and expecting your F.A.M.I.L.Y. members to love and support you, no matter what they believe.

That’s what family is all about. Today… we gained another family member and the first one to start off a fresh class of ELITE rowers.

**Note: Trey is the step-son of GopherIllustrated’s Kyle Goblirsch, who actually wrote the article quoted directly above. I don’t think a decommitment is in the foreseeable future (not that today’s futures are ever foreseeable).

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Recruiting never sleeps when you’re PJ Fleck. A reality-hijacking virus will not stop this man from bringing the most elite of talent to Minnesota. While much of college football was wondering how to continue recruiting activities during this time of crisis, PJ just reached into his shed and grabbed a different oar… a virtual one.

On-campus visits, became virtual visits and handshakes goodbyes, became awkward facetime hang-ups. The progression of this Gopher Football team, however, continued to trend up.

Tonight, the Gophers got a commitment from Texas Wide Receiver, Brady Boyd. He’s one of the fastest high school football players in the Lone Star state, which is saying something for the talent it kicks out.

More on that in a moment… Here’s Brady’s 247Sports.com recruiting profile:

So, Brady isn’t the highest-rated prospect Fleck has ever brought in, but pay closer attention to his 247Sports ranking, than you do the “composite”. Both have their purpose, but the composite combines all of ESPN, 247Sports and Rivals, into one net-ranking. 247Sports is BY FAR the best system out of those three AND has the best (and most consistent) coverage nationwide.

Don’t want an excuse based on whose stars to look at? I can understand that… Would you prefer a report from someone who knows way more than I do? Well let’s as GopherIllustrated.com’s, Ryan Burns, what he thinks.

One of the fastest players in all of Texas, Southlake Carroll wide receiver Brady Boyd chose the Gophers over early offers from Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Utah, Boise State and Kansas among others.

GopherIllustrated.com – Ryan Burns

If Boyd gets a step on you off the line, that gap is going to widen very quickly as that 4.4 40 time that Boyd has on record from this past spring is legit. Expanding Boyd’s route tree is the next on the agenda, but damn it, you can’t teach speed and that’s exactly why Minnesota and Texas Tech among others schools wanted to get in early on this 2021 wide receiver.

GopherIllustrated.com – Ryan Burns

Yes, you read that right. He runs a “legit” 4.44; 40-yard dash…. out of high school. If you believe PJ Fleck and Matt Simon know how to raise wide receivers (you should)… then you have to like them grabbing a kid out of Texas, who runs a 4.4.

Still not a believer, huh? Alright, I appreciate the skeptical. Maybe his tape will change your mind… and if not, I have no help for you. I can’t wait to get this kid on campus, running routes for Athan Kaliakmanis…

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Well, it all started on Friday afternoon when a German visitor… turned into a future resident:

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I'm excited to announce that I committed to the Minnesota Gophers. #gogophers#RTB#SkiUMah pic.twitter.com/ceNik0uS5z

— Melle Kreuder (@KreuderMelle) June 15, 2019

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But, that was only the beginning. Over the next 52 hours, PJ Fleck would get 7 more (8 total) future rowers, all set to take sail in the year 2020. It’s been a pretty incredible run; one that has pushed the Gophers 2020 class recruiting ranking into the top-25, nationally. A flurry of commitments this weekend wasn’t a surprise to anyone who is paying attention, since we knew Fleck and Co. was hosting a bunch of official visitors. I’m not sure anyone expected eight of them though. I sure didn’t. Our instagram graphics haven’t been able to keep up…

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It looks like another class that will have numbers into the 20’s. This is the new age of college recruiting. With it becoming easier and easier for players to transfer and the NCAA seemingly adding more loopholes for immediate eligibility every year (which I’m all for), it makes sense to keep your numbers high (can only have 85 scholarship players on roster). You can’t count on all of these 16-21 year old kids to keep their minds straight, grades up, and remain out of trouble. We’ve seen Fleck’s quick hand of dismissal when any of these problems arise.

Not Done Yet

If you love this shit as much as I do then keep those PJ Fleck bat signal notifications on today. So far, all 8 commitments have been 3-star recruits. I will once again mention that the offer list of each recruit is often more important than their class ranking, but the rankings at 247Sports.com have a history of accuracy so they are always worth noting. All that beings said, I like the class so far. Fleck has now built a great base for 2020. However, we have a visitor on campus today that would put himself at the top of this top-25 class immediately, if he left campus with a handshake and an oar… moving that needle for everybody watching, whether they like rankings, offer lists, or grocery lists.

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Minnesota OV tomorrow?!!! Can't wait to be there #RTB #SkiUMah !!! pic.twitter.com/HKTdAAgrkz

— Joe Moore III (@nolimitjooe) June 18, 2019

via GIPHY

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Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Last Note: If our future QB great likes one more of my tweets or continues recruiting with his own tweets like this one below…. he might find adoption papers in his mailbox soon, so I can get him on campus and hanging out with PJ Fleck faster. And, maybe I’ll take him out ROWING on weekends!!

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I don’t know where else you’d look better at… https://t.co/JzIBujKVjo

— Athan Kaliakmanis (@aajk_23) June 16, 2019

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This could be a huge deal. There’s a lot behind it so I’ll be writing something more in-depth shortly but Benjamin St. Juste is a freak athlete and measurable CB who is GRAD-TRANSFERRING to MN from MI so he is eligible immediately but still has 3 years remaining! #recruiting #recruit #footballrecruit #gophers #rtb #rowtheboat #gopherfootball #bigten #b1g #gogophers #minnesotagophers #minnesota #universityofminnesota #2019recruit #2019 #elite #pjfleck #fleck

A post shared by Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) on May 23, 2019 at 5:09am PDT

Benjamin St. Juste was a top-100 recruit, nationally, when he came out of high school. He committed to the University of Michigan as a future cornerstone to their DB group and played 12 games (mostly special teams) his Freshman year… After sitting out the first four games of his Sophomore season with a lingering hamstring injury, Jim Harbaugh announced he’d be out the rest of that season, because of that bad hamstring.

Now, he will be hopping on a short plane ride, due northwest, to wear a different yellow “M” on his uniform. After apparently taking some college courses in high school, getting medically redshirted last season, and then (clearly) being an academic overachiever… St. Juste was able to avoid NCAA transfer restrictions that would have forced him to sit out a year after arriving in Minnesota, by leaving via the “graduate-transfer” clause.

However, because he was redshirted and then only stayed for one season afterward, he’s a graduate transfer who has 3 YEARS REMAINING on his eligibility. You won’t see that very often.

But, why is Juste available. A freak athlete with a ceiling through the roof? Why is he transferring from Michigan? Well, that’s where things get weird (like they tend to do around Jim Harbaugh..). In March, it was announced (by Michigan Football) that Juste would be “medically retiring” from football and would no longer be with the team.

But then, more questions evolved when Ben entered into the “Transfer Portal” in early May. When forced to answer questions about St. Juste, Michigan said that he was “never cleared medically to play for Michigan“. Never cleared to play medically after an entire year…. because of a HAMSTRING injury??? I have a hard time believing that Harbaugh and Co. care that deeply about the future of Benjamin St. Juste’s hamstring…

Here is St. Juste’s post from instagram, regarding his graduation and football future (it’s a bit long so I’ve copied the part regarding football above the post):

 “… To clarify things on my situation, I NEVER RETIRED FROM PLAYING FOOTBALL, I had no power in that decision so stay tuned to my next announcement this week…”

I did some digging (obviously over at GopherIllustrated.com among other places) and have pretty much come to this conclusion…

There are a lot of ways to get a kid out of a scholarship, that you want to leave open for someone else… including a medical retirement… but luckily for St. Juste, he knows the world isn’t fair and he did what he needed to do, to make sure Michigan had ZERO control over what he did with his football career after 2018-19.

Now, he’ll go from a shitty Michigan culture (say what you want about rankings… it’s shit) that’s in the news WAY more often for the negative than it is for the positive these days, and jump into the arms of PJ Fleck and what is quickly becoming one of the best cultures in all of college football. Sure, there have been some kids who haven’t lived up to the expectations (off the field) that Fleck would have hoped when the got on campus, but this team is quickly becoming a brotherhood and you’ll see that show itself on the field this season….

…no matter what the national outlets are predicting.

Both Athlon and Street & Smith have Nebraska winning the Big Ten West. #Huskers pic.twitter.com/enNhuPoLt1

— Sean Callahan (@Sean_Callahan) May 18, 2019

via GIPHY

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Well, if you were around MinnesotaSportsFan.com yesterday, you would’ve been waiting for this all day and just as the workday was ending, Richard Pitino’s Gopher GIF was tweeted and Alihan Demir, the Turkish stretch-4 grad-transferring out of Drexel, was committed to the University of Minnesota.

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pic.twitter.com/kH5K1gSyvY

— Alihan Demir (@alihandemir) May 2, 2019

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Let’s be honest, Gopher fans, we were nervous AF for how this class was going to turn out, as the 2018-19 season came to an end. However, as we’ve learned over the last few years, Pitino is a much better recruiter in the spring than he is in the fall. He proved that again this year, when he went from thin in the future frontcourt, to landing 3 of his 4 2019 commitments at PF/C and hopefully suring up our big men for the future and the immediate present.

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2019-20 will depend on two things. One of them is how much this new frontcourt help can account for the loss of Jordan Murphy to graduation AND whether or not Amir Coffey decides to go through with the NBA draft, which we will find out later this month. No matter what, this year’s Gophers will look A LOT different than the last, with quite the list of new contributors. You won’t see Sam Freeman because, if all stay healthy and play to expectations, it will be tough for him to see the floor.

• Marcus Carr – SOPH | CG | Transfer – Pitt
• Peyton Willis – JUNIOR | CG | Transfer – Vandy
• Alihan Demir – GR SENIOR | PF
• Eric Curry (injured last 2 years) – RS JUNIOR | PF 
• Isaiah Ihnen – FRSH | F
• Tre Williams – FRSH | F

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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