Gophers Land Four Rivals Top-300, Including Highest-ranked Gophers Commit *EVER*

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The updated rankings, released on Tuesday, see edge rusher Aaden Aytch atop Minnesota's 2026 class as the No. 33-ranked player in the entire country. The updated list further solidifies the 2026 class as one of the best, if not the best, in the P.J. Fleck era.


www.si.com

Gophers Land Four Rivals Top-300 Commits, Including a Historic One

Aaden Aytch comes in at No. 33 in the nation, the highest-ranked Gophers commit ever.
www.si.com www.si.com


P.J. Fleck's historic 2026 class is represented by four signees in Rivals' final top-300 rankings.


Wide receiver Quayd Hendryx is the Gophers' second-highest-ranked player in the class...
 


I remember seeing so much talk about when Fleck would get his first 5 star. A lot of people thought we’d have to wait on another Joe Mauer type kid.

Well fleck went into another state, the one of the CFB champs, and got a kid who blew up and still stuck with MN. No major ties, no insane NIL, no backdoor deals, just got him and held on.

When it’s all said and done this kid is 1 spot away from being recognized as a 5 star. And I really try to not be that guy… but if he was going to a blue blood, he’d probably have gotten the exposure for a into the top 32.

All this to say, fleck hit a home run in recruiting, we’ll see how he actually pans out, but there’s a fraction of the fanfare I was expecting. What’s the deal? Does the fanbase just expect stuff like this now? I’m for it if that’s the case, just curious.

Oh and then we locked down the state and got some 4 stars from AZ/TX? A late add from some PA WR who is now one of the highest rated we’ve ever taken. This class is insane and I know that the on field product is what’s most important and will garner the most buzz. But whatever sort of hyped up energy comes after running through a brick wall still isn’t close enough to how pumped I am about this class.
 


Gopher_Devil said:
I remember seeing so much talk about when Fleck would get his first 5 star. A lot of people thought we’d have to wait on another Joe Mauer type kid.

Well fleck went into another state, the one of the CFB champs, and got a kid who blew up and still stuck with MN. No major ties, no insane NIL, no backdoor deals, just got him and held on.

When it’s all said and done this kid is 1 spot away from being recognized as a 5 star. And I really try to not be that guy… but if he was going to a blue blood, he’d probably have gotten the exposure for a into the top 32.

All this to say, fleck hit a home run in recruiting, we’ll see how he actually pans out, but there’s a fraction of the fanfare I was expecting. What’s the deal? Does the fanbase just expect stuff like this now? I’m for it if that’s the case, just curious.

Oh and then we locked down the state and got some 4 stars from AZ/TX? A late add from some PA WR who is now one of the highest rated we’ve ever taken. This class is insane and I know that the on field product is what’s most important and will garner the most buzz. But whatever sort of hyped up energy comes after running through a brick wall still isn’t close enough to how pumped I am about this class.
Click to expand...
It's impossible not to get excited about this class and the job PJ and the coaches are doing with recruiting.

With Fleck's recruiting success, if he could just match Medved's coaching ability, we'd have something pretty special. And vice versa.
 


I think there are a ton of reasons why the hype is tampered down. Some of them:
Signing day used to be a big deal on Gopherhole...this year I pretty much knew it happened
after the fact and there was significantly less hype and content.

Rivals to me is harder to find on the internet ...doesn't rank...doesn't seem as professional....all just observation opinions. For example: this thread has us with four Top 300 players on Rivals but we are #32 in the country on Rivals and the players listed do not have updated rankings in the team rankings to reflect the story.

247 is easy to find. They have us at #26.

I have not seen stories on which of our 31 recruits are enrolled and ready for spring football.
Spring football used to be a time to get excited about your team...now everybody hides because of the portal.

Koi Perich was highly ranked...he transferred. The NIL discussion and rooting for the Gophers make it hard to get excited about the likelihood of recruits playing three or four years for the Gophers.

I do think PJ picked up some nice transfers and recruits. We could be good next year. Time will tell.
 

I have always just looked at 24/7 - had no idea Aytech was rated this highly on OP! I think MN is in a great spot to truly become a contender- and if that happens, the money will be there. That article on Rutgers was dire… Minnesota has a balanced athletic budget, with most of the money just being media revenue. Fleck continues to improve his recruiting, and schedule - although tricky this year gives a reasonable shot at making a run (play IN right after they play MI/IN, PSU and MI both looked vulnerable last year, Iowa at home…)
 


GopherTheJugular said:
I was gonna click, but it's si.com so probably AI generated and with mistakes?
Click to expand...
www.on3.com

Four Minnesota signees apart of final 2026 Rivals 300

The final rankings update for the Rivals 300 for the 2026 recruiting cycle was released on Tuesday morning, and the Minnesota Golden Gophers are represented with four signees among the top-300 prospects. Leading the way for the Golden Gophers is Indiana EDGE rusher Aaden Aytch, the No. 33 player...
www.on3.com www.on3.com
 





PoockItInfor6 said:
I have always just looked at 24/7 - had no idea Aytech was rated this highly on OP! I think MN is in a great spot to truly become a contender- and if that happens, the money will be there. That article on Rutgers was dire… Minnesota has a balanced athletic budget, with most of the money just being media revenue. Fleck continues to improve his recruiting, and schedule - although tricky this year gives a reasonable shot at making a run (play IN right after they play MI/IN, PSU and MI both looked vulnerable last year, Iowa at home…)
Click to expand...
Rivals and Scout used to be the big deals when following recruiting rankings, but 247 has surpassed them. ESPN is also in the game, but their website isn't the easiest place to find pertinent information. I think part of it is the 247 site is easy to find and easy to navigate. It is interesting to see the differences in player evaluation between the sites.
 

Gopher_Devil said:
I remember seeing so much talk about when Fleck would get his first 5 star. A lot of people thought we’d have to wait on another Joe Mauer type kid.

Well fleck went into another state, the one of the CFB champs, and got a kid who blew up and still stuck with MN. No major ties, no insane NIL, no backdoor deals, just got him and held on.

When it’s all said and done this kid is 1 spot away from being recognized as a 5 star. And I really try to not be that guy… but if he was going to a blue blood, he’d probably have gotten the exposure for a into the top 32.

All this to say, fleck hit a home run in recruiting, we’ll see how he actually pans out, but there’s a fraction of the fanfare I was expecting. What’s the deal? Does the fanbase just expect stuff like this now? I’m for it if that’s the case, just curious.

Oh and then we locked down the state and got some 4 stars from AZ/TX? A late add from some PA WR who is now one of the highest rated we’ve ever taken. This class is insane and I know that the on field product is what’s most important and will garner the most buzz. But whatever sort of hyped up energy comes after running through a brick wall still isn’t close enough to how pumped I am about this class.
Click to expand...
I'm thrilled about the class, but with how easy kids can now come and go, it's hard to be hopeful about hanging on to them if they blow up. That's where my hesitation comes from.
 




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