Minnesota's 2025 recruiting class now ranked top 20 in the country

The Gophers were busy on the recruiting trail over the weekend.

Sep 17, 2022; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck watches a replay in the fourth quarter against the Colorado Buffaloes at Huntington Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Blewett-USA TODAY Sports / Matt Blewett-USA TODAY Sports

P.J. Fleck and the Gophers staff kicked off their annual "Summer Splash" recruiting event this past weekend, and it went off with a bang. After landing verbal commitments from 11 players across four days, their class is now ranked inside the top 20 in the country.

Class ranking

Popular recruiting site 247Sports ranks Minnesota's 2025 class as the 19th best in the country. Eighteen prospects are verbally committed to the school and they have an average recruiting ranking of 86.69, according to the site. Highlighted by two four-star prospects, the class notably ranks ahead of programs like Tennessee, Ole Miss and Oregon.

247Sports' list heavily weighs the sheer number of commitments in their ranking. Compared to the other programs in the top 20, the Gophers have the third most total verbal commitments. For example, another recruiting service On3 ranks the class as 36th-best in the country.

Again, 19th looks great on the list but Oregon, for example, has just seven commits and ranks 27th overall but of those seven, six are four-star players and one is a five-star recruit.

Notes

After the week, the Gophers now have commitments from five of the top-10 prospects in Minnesota. Highlighted by the No. 2 ranked player, defensive lineman Abu Tarawallie from Heritage Christian Academy, they also landed a pair of recruits from southern Minnesota: defensive lineman Colin Hansen from Byron and linebacker Ethan Stendel from Caledonia.

Naples, Florida wide receiver Bradley Martino became the third four-star recruit to join the Gophers' 2025 class. Listed at 6-foot-3, 175 pounds he played both receiver and cornerback last season for Golden Gate High School. Offensively, he totaled 21 receptions for 455 yards and 10 TDs, making him one of the most intriguing long-term prospects in this class.

Late spring and early summer is typically the time that most programs schedule the bulk of their official visits. Fleck and his staff have branded it as an event for Minnesota, calling it "Summer Splash." After a successful week, it's not slowing down with even more recruits on campus this coming weekend.

Compared to last cycle, the Gophers added 20 total high school seniors from the class of 2024, so now with 18, they have likely done the bulk of their work, as they would like to keep roster and scholarship flexibility given the current landscape of the transfer portal.