Minnesota offers four-star 2026 edge defender McHale Blade

Blade currently attends the well-known Simeon High School, the same school that produced local Chicago stars like Derrick Rose and Jabari Parker. Listed at 6-foot-3, 240 pounds, 247Sports' composite rankings have him as the 125th-best player in the class of 2026, the fourth-best player in Illinois and the 17th-best defensive lineman in the country.

He has a laundary list of big-time offers, highlighted by Georgia, Michigan and Notre Dame. Gophers defensive line coach Winston DeLattiboudere III made the trip to Illinois and visited him this week, so that has to account for something.

Ultimately, Minnesota does not typically sign players of Blade's caliber, but it's fun to speculate whether or not he was named after Gophers basketball great Kevin McHale. If the Gophers staff is able to get him on campus for an official visit it would be a huge win, but he's an interesting name to monitor as the cycle heats up.

Related: Minnesota offers highly-touted 2026 four-star LB Cincere Johnson

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