The Minnesota Gopher opens their home football schedule with a 2:30 game against New Mexico State. North Carolina wide receiver Jamel Haribson is the lone football player making his official visit this weekend. However, eight basketball players will be attending the Aggies’ game.
Wally Ellenson, the first 2011 basketball commit, will be making his official visit. Younger brother, Ellwood, who will be a junior and freshman Henry, will also make the visit along with their parents.
Ellenson helped lead Rice Lake to a 16-8 mark as a junior, losing to River Falls 46-36 in the playoffs. He averaged 21.2 points per game and scored 40 points in a 84-72 loss to Roseville in the East Metro Showcase and 36 versus Superior in a 82-70 loss.
Three members of the talented Minnesota class of 2014 will be at TCF Stadium.
Tyus Jones of Apple Valley made a name for himself locally as an eighth-grade starter for the Apple Valley Eagles. Jones averaged 16.5 points per game two seasons ago. He averaged 18.8 points and eight assists per game this season, despite missing 13 games with a lacerated kidney that he suffered in the season opener against St. Louis Park.
Jones helped lead the USA team to the gold medal at the FIBA Americas Under-16 Championship in Cancun, Mexico and has offers from Iowa, Baylor, Ohio State, Michigan State, Arizona, Providence, Marquette and Minnesota and interest from Duke and other top programs.
Rashad Vaughn, a 6-foot-4 rising sophomore from Robbinsdale Cooper, has scholarship offers from Minnesota, Arizona State, Iowa State and Oregon State. He averaged 11.6 points per game as the Hawks finished 19-10, losing to Osseo 74-50 in the second round of the Class AAAA, section semifinals.
Reid Travis of Minneapolis DeLaSalle is the younger brother of Jonah, who is headed to Harvard after averaging 19.0 points per game as a senior. Travis played mostly JV as a freshman, but managed to score in seven varsity games as the Islanders finished 25-4, losing to Columbia Heights in the Class 3A, Section 3 finals 61-57.
Travis, who is starting at quarterback spot this fall, helped lead the Minnesota Pump N Run 15-and-under team to as title in the King of Court in Des Moines and second place finish in the adidas Super 64 in Las Vegas.
Big men Carson Shanks and Conner Voss are also visiting Minnesota this weekend.
Shanks, a 7-foot-1, 220-pound junior center from Prior Lake, was slowed by injuries last season after transferring from Eastview, where he played as a freshman.
Shanks comes from a basketball family. His father played at Northern State and his uncle, Brian Shanks), who is 7-foot-3, played at South Dakota State. Shanks has offers from Colorado State, Utah State, Northern Iowa and North Dakota.
Shanks played for the Minnesota Select 16-and-under AAU program this summer.
Voss, who plays for St. Cloud Cathedral, has seen his recruitment pick up significantly after a good AAU season with the Minnesota Comets. He has not landed a scholarship offer yet, but he has picked up solid interest. The 6-foot-11 big man doesn’t have much varsity experience, but is an intriguing prospect
The final visitor, junior Matt Thomas of Onalaska, Wisconsin, has the long trip. He has already received a Minnesota offer and is one of the Midwest’s top outside shooters. Thomas shined this AAU season with the Wisconsin Playmakers AAU program.
Matt Thomas, a 6-foot-1 rising junior guard from Onalaska, shined this past week at the NY2LA Next Level Invitational and could soon receive a Minnesota offer. Thomas is one of the Midwest’s top backcourt players in the Class of 2013.
The junior also has scholarship offers from Boston College, Creighton, Green Bay, Iowa State, Marquette and Northern Iowa. He averaged 16.5 points per game as he helped lead the Hilltoppers to a 23-3 mark, losing to eventual state runner-up Merrill 65-49 one game short of the state tournament.