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Bradley Martino has all the traits to be the next great Gophers WR

How does Martino stack up with the all-time great UMN receivers?

Tony Liebert

Bradley Martino, Golden Gate High School, Football, All Area, Fall 2023.
Bradley Martino, Golden Gate High School, Football, All Area, Fall 2023. / Jonah Hinebaugh/Naples Daily News/USA
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Golden Gate High School star Bradley Martino verbally committed to the Gophers on June 9, setting into motion his chance to become the next great Minnesota wide receiver.

Based on his current 247Sports composite ranking (401), he could become the third highest-ranked wide receiver recruit to play for P.J. Fleck at Minnesota, trailing only Daniel Jackson in 2020 and Rashod Bateman in 2018.

With the new transfer portal rules, college football team building has become very different from when Fleck took the Gophers' job, so it's important to take these numbers with a grain of salt. But, when you look at high school recruiting, Minnesota has signed 21 wide receivers in the eight recruiting classes since 2017.

Scholarship wide receivers signed under Fleck (247Sports composite ranking):

  • 2020, Daniel Jackson (332)
  • 2018, Rashod Bateman (367)
  • 2025, Bradley Martino (401)
  • 2021, LeMeke Brockington (571)
  • 2021, Brady Boyd (612)
  • 2023, Donnielle 'Nuke' Hayes (633)
  • 2019, Nnamdi Adim-Madumere (635)
  • 2020, Jonathan Mann (671)
  • 2023, Kenric Lanier (673)
  • 2018, Jornell Brooks (713)
  • 2020, Douglas Emelien (714)
  • 2017, Demetrius Douglas (759)
  • 2024, Jalen Smith (794)
  • 2022, Ike White (796)
  • 2017, Chris Autman-Bell (824)
  • 2018, Erik Gibson (941)
  • 2021, Dino Kaliakmanis (934)
  • 2022, Kristen Hoskins (964)
  • 2019, Mike Brown-Stephens (1,114)
  • 2023, TJ McWilliams (1,141)
  • 2021, Dylan McGill (1,234)
  • 2018, Harrison Van Dyne (1,412)

Eliminating transfer portal and former walk-on wide receivers in 2024 might seem a bit disingenuous because it does not look at significant contributors in recent seasons like Dylan Wright, Elijah Spencer or Clay Geary. For this discussion's sake, it emphasizes how significant Martino's pledge could be.

Golden Gate High School is one of the largest schools in the Naples, Florida area with an enrollment of around 1,700 students. They compete at the 5A level, which is the third-highest level the state. Last season as a junior he played both wide receiver and defensive back.

He finished the season with 21 receptions for 455 yards and 10 touchdowns on the offensive side of the ball and had 35 tackles, three interceptions, three pass breakups and one forced fumble as a defender. Listed at 6-foot-3, 175 pounds, he is expected to play wide receiver for Minnesota.

Since originally committing to Toledo on Feb. 27, Martino has been a fast-rising prospect, picking up notable offers from Oregon State, Louisville, Michigan State and Mississippi State. He de-committed from the Rockets on May 29, then flipped to the Gophers on June 9, following his official visit during Minnesota's "Summer Splash" event.

Minnesota has a long list of great wide receivers before Fleck even arrived. For example, Tyler Johnson signed with the program in 2016 and 247Sports ranked him as the No. 561 player in his class. Eric Decker was the No. 966 player in the class of 2005 and in 2003 Ernie Wheelwright was the No. 682 player in the country.

Before the internet era of recruiting, the Gophers had great players at the receiver position like Ron Johnson and Tutu Atwell, but having a player on campus of Martino's talent is rather unprecedented.

It's worth noting that his recruitment is far from over. According to 247Sports, he officially visited Michigan State last weekend and he is scheduled to visit Mississippi State this weekend. This is very normal in modern college football recruiting, but nothing is official until Martino signs on the dotted line on Early National Signing Day in December.

It would be naive to not admit that it has become tough for fans to get too excited about a high school commitment, but Martino has all of the traits to be the next great Gophers wide receiver.

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Tony Liebert

TONY LIEBERT

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