Where does Gophers' 2025 class stack up to other years under P.J. Fleck?

Will Minnesota be able to ink its best class ever under Fleck?

Jan 1, 2020; Tampa, Florida, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach PJ Fleck (yellow tie) walks on the field after defeating the Auburn Tigers at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Douglas DeFelice-USA TODAY Sports / Douglas DeFelice-USA TODAY Sports

The Gophers had a red-hot June on the recruiting trail, landing verbal commitments from a handful of prospects. 247Sports currently ranks their 2025 class as the 29th-best in the country, so how does that compare to years past?

Minnesota already has verbal commitments from 22 players, which is one of the highest marks in the entire country. That is the driving reason for their ranking at No. 29. For example their average individual recruit ranking of 86.56 ranks 38th-best in the country. When more of the highly touted programs like Ole Miss, Iowa or Michigan State begin to add more recruits, the Gophers' overall ranking will likely drop, but how far?

Gophers recruiting class rankings under P.J. Fleck (via 247Sports)

1. 2025 (No. 29)
2. 2024 (No. 33)
3. 2018 (No. 38)
4. 2021 (No. 39)
5. 2020 (No. 39)
6. 2019 (No. 49)
7. 2022 (No. 52)
8. 2023 (No. 53)
9. 2017 (No. 60)

Currently at No. 29, that would be the highest-ranked class that the Gophers have signed under P.J. Fleck since he took over in 2017. I would be fairly surprised if that number holds by Early National Signing Day in December unless Minnesota makes a big splash with some more four-star recruits.

For example, Minnesota's No. 1 class under Fleck last cycle had an average individual recruit ranking of 87.44, so this year's group is not far off. Losing players like Nelson McGuire III and Torin Pettaway to flips hurts the long-term outlook because those are two guys who had a chance to work themselves up to high-level, three-star recruits or even four stars after big senior seasons in high school.

Overall, this year's class is a big improvement from the uninspiring 2022 and 2023 years when the Gophers found themselves ranked outside of the top 50 nationally.