Dec 26, 2023; Detroit, MI, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck looks at the scoreboard in the fourth quarter of their game against the Bowling Green Falcons at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

Recruiting thoughts: More of the same? Gophers still looking for big summer splash

Originally posted on Minnesota Golden Gophers on SI
By Tony Liebert | Last updated Jun 16, 2025 9:28 AM ET

The Gophers just wrapped up their second and final Summer Splash, official visit recruiting weekend of the cycle, and they now have 21 players verbally committed to their 2026 recruiting class. They entered June with only 10 verbal commitments, and they've since added 11 more. Where does their class rank nationally? Are there big dominoes left to fall? Let's break it all down.

In the transfer portal era, since 2021, the Gophers have averaged 20 high school recruits per cycle. The fact that they already have 21 players committed to the 2026 class means they either plan to put a heavier emphasis on the high school route or they might not add many more players between now and early national signing day in December.

The Gophers have a handful of top targets left on the board, so it would be pretty shocking if they didn't add at least a few more players to their class, which means we could be looking at their biggest class since 2020 when they signed 24 high schoolers.

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As it stands today, Minnesota's 2026 recruiting class is very on par with what we've seen from P.J. Fleck. They have three four-star recruits, a solid group of offensive linemen and an intriguing quarterback. If they don't add anyone else, it will likely be business as usual, and the class will probably be ranked somewhere in the 40s by December. But there are still a lot of big dominoes left to fall.

Minnesota hosted six uncommitted four-star recruits on official visits this month, none of whom have verbally committed anywhere: TE Roman Voss, LB/TE Pierce Petersohn, DB Jayden McGregory, DB Messiah Tilson, RB Ryan Estrada and RB Ashton Rowden. Suppose the Gophers are able to add at least one, if not multiple, of those players to this class, we could be looking at one of Fleck's best. They call their official visit weekends Summer Splash, and they're still looking for one big recruiting splash this summer.