Alex Reigelsperger, a 6-3, 250-pound four-star defensive end from Dayton (OH) Wayne, recently announced that he was committing to Minnesota.
Reigelsperger, who previously decommitted from Kentucky is considered the Gophers’ highest rated recruit.
Gopher Hole caught up with Reigelsperger to learn the latest on his recruitment and senior season.
Gopher Hole: When did you first starting hearing from Minnesota?
Alex Reigelsperger: I started hearing from Minnesota about month from Fleck getting there.
Gopher Hole: Were you surprised about him leaving Western Michigan or did you figure based on how well that they did the previous season that he would get some bigger opportunities?
Alex Reigelsperger: I figured he would based on how he everything turned Western Michigan around. I figured that with everything he had done, that he would get a good opportunity.
Gopher Hole: You committed to Minnesota on Sunday after making an unofficial visit. What was the main reason that you decided that Minnesota is where you want to be?
Alex Reigelsperger: Coach Fleck. Coach Paup. Knowing what Coach Paup did in the league. Just talking with him, I know that he cares for me and I know that he can turn me into the player that I want to be, getting me to my goals. Helping me reach my goals and Coach Fleck just being Coach Fleck. Young, energetic. I know that he wants to be at Minnesota and stay there. Seeing what he did at Western Michigan and knowing also how much he cares for me and then telling me that I can be an impact player when I get there really helps.
Gopher Hole: You started hearing from Minnesota shortly after Coach Fleck left Western Michigan. Had you given Minnesota much thought at the time? Obviously, you committed to Kentucky, but had you thought much about Minnesota when they started to recruit you with the staff coming over from Western Michigan?
Alex Reigelsperger: Oh, yes. As soon as Fleck was there, like I said, about a month into him getting there, he started recruiting me and I was feeling for him as soon as Fleck got there. Like I said, I knew what Fleck did at Western Michigan. I knew how much he cared for me when he was there, so I paid attention as soon as they started recruiting me.
Gopher Hole: You committed to Kentucky, though. What was main reason that you thought Kentucky, at the time, was a good fit for you?
Alex Reigelsperger: I love Stoops. He is a good coach. No disrespect to any staff member there. They are all great coaches. I love them all. I respect them all and I have got a lot of friends that play there and it was close to home and it was SEC. I knew that I would get a nice degree and they wanted me to play, too. They had a lot of stuff that I was looking for, but we ended up just not making it work.
Gopher Hole: Was there a feeling? Obviously, you had decommitted over a week ago form there. Was that something that you had been thinking about doing for a while?
Alex Reigelsperger: Yes, it was. I’d be lying to you, if I told you it wasn’t. That is one thing that I don’t do. I have to admit, it is one of those things when you commit, you stay awake and pray and hope that you are making the right choices, whether it is this one or that one and eventually you’ll find where it is that you should be.
Gopher Hole: You visited Minnesota on an unofficial visit. Had you ever been to Minnesota before that?
Alex Reigelsperger: No. That was my first time even in the state.
Gopher Hole: What were your impressions?
Alex Reigelsperger: Being in Ohio and living only an hour away from Columbus and an hour away from Cincinnati, you don’t think that cities like Minneapolis and St. Paul are that big, but they are bigger than Columbus and stuff like that, so it was really just crazy to actually get out there and see how big the city was and love that team and literally sat out in the windy freezing rain for that team. It was everything opposite of what I expected. I figured like a country, middle of nowhere type of school. It is from living out here, but they started sending me pictures and sending me facts about this, this and that about Minneapolis. I looked around and when we actually got there, I was like “Oh, wow. It is a huge city out here.”
Gopher Hole: What all did you have a chance to see and do when you were up here?
Alex Reigelsperger: I got a chance to see the Vikings stadium and the Timberwolves arena, the Mall of America. All of Minnesota. We walked around downtown and got dinner. I got to try a “Lucy.” I figured out that they eat tater tots a lot, which is pretty cool. I got a really good breakfast place, but that was it. We mostly toured the city and I got to see the Mall of America, which was jaw dropping to say the least. The biggest mall that I have been in is here in Beaver Creek and it is only like two stories.
Gopher Hole: Who all came up you then?
Alex Reigelsperger: My brother and my dad.
Gopher Hole: What were their impressions?
Alex Reigelsperger: My dad really, really, really likes Fleck and has liked Fleck for a long, long time, so he wanted me to do it when we got there. Right that day. My brother also really, really liked Fleck and we told him about him and we watched the TV show and he started liking him more and then once he meet him in person and saw how he was in person and how much he cared for me, he 100% agreed, too.
Gopher Hole: Minnesota got off to a good 3-0 start. They had a couple of tough losses since, losing games that, to be honest, they could have won. Does that affect how you look at a school since Minnesota was hoping to be a little better than 3-3 now. They had some chances. I don’t know if you saw the game against Maryland and Purdue, they could have won that game and even Michigan State.
Alex Reigelsperger: I was at the Purdue game. I was taking a visit to Purdue.
Gopher Hole: That game they could have won. Does that affect how you look at a school how they are doing this year or doesn’t that affect much since you are not going to be there until next year?
Alex Reigelsperger: It does, but you have got to think about it the right way because where I’m coming from, if you look at it and no offense to anyone who is there. They are all great players and talented and I love them all, but they are limited to say the least on everything, whether it is depth or anything and they are still losing to Michigan State, who was a Top 25 team by three, Purdue, really by just a thrown pick six right at the end of the game and Maryland, which I think was a thrown pick six at the end of the game or something like that and they are losing to teams like that just because of simple mistakes that are fixable and with a first year coach. To me that makes me want to go there even more. They honestly should have beaten Michigan State. They lose by a field goal and nearly could of and to me that’s saying something.
Gopher Hole: Obviously, you saw Purdue. What other schools were you really hearing from once you re-opened your recruitment? Were you hearing from a lot of the schools that were recruiting you from before or did you even start hearing from some new schools that hadn’t really been recruiting you before?
Alex Reigelsperger: Both. Once I decommitted, I heard a lot from the same schools, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Minnesota and stuff like that, but some new schools came in. Texas A&M came in. Washington State. I started hearing back from Oregon, so it was a mixture of both.
Gopher Hole: Had you really thought about how quickly you might make your decision? Had you planned on doing it quite so quickly or did it just seem like the right place to be?
Alex Reigelsperger: I honestly didn’t even plan on going up there that weekend. We didn’t even figure out I was going up there until, I think Wednesday, I tweeted it out or someone tweeted it out or something, because we didn’t really think that we were going to be able to make it. Once I got there, Fleck always told me I would love it once I got there and seeing it. Once I saw it, he was right. I really just fell in love with the place and my dad is a big fan of Fleck, so he supported me all the way.
Gopher Hole: Did you know any of the other commits very well or have you gotten to know them a little bit more since you have committed?
Alex Reigelsperger: I have gotten to know them a lot better. I talked to Jack (York) for a long time and I meet Benny (Sapp) when I was up there and a couple of others guys when I was up there. I meet Braelen (Oliver) at a Cincinnati visit awhile back, so I know Braelen, too. I know most of them and I’m getting to know more of them now.
Gopher Hole: What are they saying to you about Minnesota?
Alex Reigelsperger: That they love it and we are going to make something special happen, especially with the Class that we have. Everybody is really talented and we all get along and they all believe in the culture and what Fleck is doing, so we know that we can all get it done together.
Gopher Hole: What do you see as your strengths as a football player?
Alex Reigelsperger: My speed and I don’t really have a motor at all. I just go non-stop, but my speed really. I’m on kickoffs. I’m usually the first one down. I’m on punts and I’m usually the first one down, so I would say that is my biggest strength. My speed and that I just don’t stop.
Gopher Hole: What have the Gophers said to you about what position you would play in college?
Alex Reigelsperger: Defensive end.
Gopher Hole: To be honest, they are a little bit thin at defensive lineman with some injuries and other things. Is that something that appeals to you that if you do the right things, you might have a chance to play fairly quickly in your college career?
Alex Reigelsperger: Yes, especially with the fact that I will be enrolling in January and getting up there the second week of January. They are telling me that I can be an impact player. That was also a lot that went into my choice. Knowing that I can enroll early, I’ll be able to get up there and get up to 265, 270. That was a big part of my choice as well.
Gopher Hole: Were you planning on being an early enrollee at Kentucky as well or did that change once you committed to Minnesota?
Alex Reigelsperger: No, I was. I had it set no matter where I went. I had the option set to where if I wanted to go here I could, but if I didn’t, I could wait until February.
Gopher Hole: How much of an advantage do you think that will be to have the opportunity to go through spring practice?
Alex Reigelsperger: Oh, huge. I’ll be able to play better. Like I said, pack on 10, 15 pounds of muscle, so huge. I can get from 250 to 265, 270 and knowing the plays a lot better than anybody else coming in or anything like that. I think it will be huge and really help me with my degree, because I want to major in Kinesology and that is not an easy degree. I think it will help me a lot.
Gopher Hole: How about your senior season? How are you guys doing so far this year?
Alex Reigelsperger: We’re doing all right, to say the least. We are doing okay. We are 6-2 (now 7-2 after beating Springfield 28-13 last Friday). We had our ups and downs with those two losses, but we are coming together a lot more. I’m proud of my guys. We had a lot of adversity going into the season with injuries. Didn’t have a lot of depth, but we are making it happen.
Gopher Hole: Do you guys have a good chance of making the playoffs?
Alex Reigelsperger: Yes, we’ve already secured it. If we win out the last two games, we get a home game, which is what we are really playing for at this point.
Gopher Hole: What would it mean to make a strong run in the postseason for you as a senior in your last year?
Alex Reigelsperger: It would mean a lot, especially because that is just what I am used to. My freshman year, we went to state (finishing 13-2, losing to St. Edward’s 31-21 in the title game). My sophomore year, we went to state (finishing 14-1, losing to St. Edward’s 45-35 in the title game).. My junior year, we made it to the third round lost (17-14) to a really good Pick (Pickerington) Central team (finishing 11-1), whose running back (Morgan Ellison) is doing good things at Indiana. It would mean a lot, especially because that is just what I am used to and the dominance that we have at Wayne, so it would mean a lot to carry on that tradition, too.
Gopher Hole: Earlier in your career, did you play any sports besides football?
Alex Reigelsperger: I played basketball a lot. I was actually a basketball person before I was football person. I didn’t really even focus on football. I was focused more on basketball, but I had a terrible ankle injury where someone stepped on the inside of my right ankle. I don’t know if you saw what happened to Gordon Hayward just a couple of hours ago. It was the same thing, except mine was the outside, so instead of flaring out, mine flared in. I had to have surgery. It popped back in place. I tore all the ligaments. I was in a wheelchair and then in a cast. It took me about eight months to recover, so I stopped after that and focused on football and it turned out to the smarter of the choices.
Gopher Hole: Did recovering from that injury spark the interest in Kinesology?
Alex Reigelsperger: Yes, it did and when I broke my ankle is when I meet my trainer, Jermaine, because I was going to me to help me recover from my ankle and give me back 100% and he got me about 500%.
Gopher Hole: What things are you going to try to work on once your season is done hopefully a long season, to get ready for college?
Alex Reigelsperger: I am going to be working out non-stop. Getting footwork together. Getting my get-off together and my pass rush. Spending a lot of time with Jermaine. Doing everything I can to stay in shape. Making my feet quicker. Making my hands quicker and my get-off a lot better.
Gopher Hole: Are you planning on making another visit, either unofficial or official?
Alex Reigelsperger: I plan on coming up for Nebraska on the 11th and Wisconsin the 25th.