Recruiting thoughts: What's next for the Gophers after Roman Voss commitment?

The Gophers landed one of their most significant high school recruiting commitments of the internet era on Monday, when Jackson, Minnesota, four-star tight end Roman Voss opted to stay home instead of going to Alabama. Minnesota's 2026 class now ranks 14th-best in the country according to 247Sports, so where do they go from here?

Pierce Petersohn

The name every Gophers fan living in Minnesota will point out is Triton High School LB/TE Pierce Petersohn. He's coming off an official visit last weekend with Penn State, and he's now the top uncommitted 2026 recruit in Minnesota.

Related: Four-star TE/LB Pierce Petersohn narrows recruitment to two finalists

Petersohn announced last week that he will commit to either Penn State or Minnesota. The fact that he left Happy Valley uncommitted bodes well for the Gophers' chances. He has not given an official date, but there seems to be a strong chance that his official commitment announcement will happen sooner rather than later.

Other names to monitor

There are currently six notable uncommitted recruits in the class of 2026, who Minnesota seems to be in the mix for, but all six could be leaning in another direction.

• Jayden McGregory, Iowa, DB
• Darrion Jones, Nebraska, DB
• Mason Lewis, Arizona, CB
• Freddie Wilson, Florida, DL
• Xavier Jackson, New Jersey, CB
• Tristen Hill, Georgia, DB

Missouri is the favorite for McGregory, Jones is leaning towards Iowa, Lewis is strongly considering Kansas State, prying Wilson out of the state of Florida would be significant, Jackson took visits to Pittsburgh and North Carolina after Minnesota and Hill could be NC State bound.

Minnesota is not out of the running for any of the six players, but they likely aren't the favorites. With 24 players already verbally committed to their class and Petersohn's commitment looming, it's hard to imagine they'll even have room for much more with the new roster restrictions now in place.

Overall thoughts:

The most composite four-star recruits Minnesota signed in a high school recruiting class under Fleck came in 2021 with four. Voss now gives them five four-star recruits verbally committed to their 2026 class, which makes is arguably Fleck's best up to this point in the cycle.