Official 2021 Gophers Football Recruiting Updates Thread: Links, Tweets, Videos etc

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It is always nice to get Minnesota kids that turn out to be really good players. I think most would agree to that. We also know by looking at where kids are from that go high in the NFL draft, we need to recruit the country well to be a top team. Lets just get the best talent that fits in and see where we end up.
 

GopherDog1 said:
Who cares what state the kids come from? If many of these kids in the 2021 class were from MN they would be the top kids in MN, by far. He is building a National Brand so the recruits are from all over the nation. More like Ohio State than WI.
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Looking at the rosters UW has players from all over and is a national brand. The have 50 Wisconsin kids and we have 40 Minnesota kids. When you take out the walk on kids from both it is 30 and 20. In OL AND TE's the difference is close to 10. Their state has a culture of OL wanting to stay home as a result of two generations of success. When we win over time we will get more local kids wanting to stay home. Both programs will get the vast majority of their skill players from out of state. As it should be because the best talent comes from out of state.
 

PitinoFan said:
Why is Fleck having such a difficult time recruiting Minnesota kids? It’s getting ridiculous.
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The fact is strong programs have a strong home base. The studs of the last graduating class were from Minnesota with the previous coach. PJ has been present in the state a few years and is placing his energy recruiting his home state of Illinois. There is plenty talent in Minnesota. He s making 3 million a year he does not want to take the chance recruiting 2 star guys from Minnesota that would be 3 stars from other locations. He has a big paycheck on the line.
 

PitinoFan said:
OK, the takeaway from the last few comments is that it doesn’t matter whether we get the top in-state recruits. Go it. (y)
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It doesn't matter if you get better talent from elsewhere. Some benefits of landing the instate kids though would be that it is probably something that kind of snowballs and builds upon itself which in theory would allow for more resources put into recruiting fewer out of state kids. Another benefit is I would guess the transfer rate would be lower for instate kids.
 


Tommyboy said:
The fact is strong programs have a strong home base. The studs of the last graduating class were from Minnesota with the previous coach. PJ has been present in the state a few years and is placing his energy recruiting his home state of Illinois. There is plenty talent in Minnesota. He s making 3 million a year he does not want to take the chance recruiting 2 star guys from Minnesota that would be 3 stars from other locations. He has a big paycheck on the line.
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Don't highjack the conversation and make it about your boy. We are talking about landing the top instate kids. Not the 2 stars that we aren't even offering.
 

btowngopher said:
Don't highjack the conversation and make it about your boy. We are talking about landing the top instate kids. Not the 2 stars that we aren't even offering.
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I don't have kids, but I know football. You are a very negative. You don't agree with the point that our studs last year were from our state. You do not know the climate of the HS athletes in our state. Simply look at other states around us they are keeping their players. We are not Alabama.
 

Tommyboy said:
I don't have kids, but I know football. You are a very negative. You don't agree with the point that our studs last year were from our state. You do not know the climate of the HS athletes in our state. Simply look at other states around us they are keeping their players. We are not Alabama.
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That was because of the Empire Class, which had an unusually high number of P5-level of kids for Minnesota. Its pretty clear if you look at the in-state talent every year, there are generally not that many quality P5 players.
 

Tommyboy said:
I don't have kids, but I know football. You are a very negative. You don't agree with the point that our studs last year were from our state. You do not know the climate of the HS athletes in our state. Simply look at other states around us they are keeping their players. We are not Alabama.
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Yes I agree we had some good players from instate last year. Only one that wasn't very highly rated was Martin. They weren't a bunch of 2 stars with no P5 offers.
 



PitinoFan said:
Deven Eastern looks almost as big as Mike Morris now.

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giphy.gif
 

Alt from Totino-Grace picks Notre Dame over Iowa and MN.
 


Wish more MN kids stayed home, but what ya gonna do? PJ offers, visits, explains the culture, and "shows love" (as the youngsters say). If they wanna leave, they leave. He can't shackle them up or force them to commit at gunpoint. As others have pointed out, if MN becomes a consistent winner and/or develops a reputation for sending players at certain positions to the NFL, more MN kids will stay home. Until then. I hope PJ recruits the best players he can possibly land, regardless of where they live.
 



Tommyboy said:
I don't have kids, but I know football. You are a very negative. You don't agree with the point that our studs last year were from our state. You do not know the climate of the HS athletes in our state. Simply look at other states around us they are keeping their players. We are not Alabama.
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You act like PJ isn't trying to get the top instate athletes. If an instate recruit goes to another school such as Alt decided to do. Should PJ just leave that spot open or should he fill it with a different recruit? Who more than likely will have to be from out of state.
 

The Gophers do get a strong showing of MN & WI kids as PWOs. That is where we get the Blake Cashmans and the Sam Renners.

So, at least we are getting the largest contingent on the team roster from MN.

We can't stop instate kids from going to Notre Dame or Harvard. If it is their dream, they must follow the once in a lifetime opportunity.

The important thing is for the Gophers to continue ramping up recruiting nationally. Eventually they will win titles. Maybe then we can persuade more of our top instate athletes to stay home especially the OLs.
 

Remember when it wasn't even a slight when someone picked Notre Dame. It only stings now because we feel they are leaving something special in the making.

While we do need to get a majority of these kids we wilm always lose a few. Just seems like more than desired the last 2 years.
 

hungan1 said:
The Gophers do get a strong showing of MN & WI kids as PWOs. That is where we get the Blake Cashmans and the Sam Renners.

So, at least we are getting the largest contingent on the team roster from MN.

We can't stop instate kids from going to Notre Dame or Harvard. If it is their dream, they must follow the once in a lifetime opportunity.

The important thing is for the Gophers to continue ramping up recruiting nationally. Eventually they will win titles. Maybe then we can persuade more of our top instate athletes to stay home especially the OLs.
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Hogwash. Get a clue.

The vast majority of the best Wisky and Iowa kids "dream" about playing for their home state university and close to 75-80% stay home. But not at Minnesota, particularly for basketball but its becoming more common for football.

How many national titles have Wisconsin and Iowa won in the past 20-30 years. Probably nada, zilch or zero. Yet the vast majority of their homestate literally stay home inspite of no national titles.

I get it that zip codes don't really matter but there is a lot to be said about kids playing for their state university..
 

Bayfield Gopher said:
Hogwash. Get a clue.

The vast majority of the best Wisky and Iowa kids "dream" about playing for their home state university and close to 75-80% stay home. But not at Minnesota, particularly for basketball but its becoming more common for football.

How many national titles have Wisconsin and Iowa won in the past 20-30 years. Probably nada, zilch or zero. Yet the vast majority of their homestate literally stay home inspite of no national titles.

I get it that zip codes don't really matter but there is a lot to be said about kids playing for their state university..
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They stay home at UW because of a long run of success. UW football has been a huge deal for 27 years, winning the conference multiple times and winning three Rose Bowls. Football here can become that.
 

We are just a few years away from more instate kids attending the U. They have to grow up going to games and watching big wins. The parents need to be fans of our Gophers, it all starts at home and the tides have changes for the better. It's kind of a chicken/egg thing. If 2019 continues to trend for Minnesota, there will be plenty of kids dreaming of being a Gopher.
 

HoustonTXGopher said:
We are just a few years away from more instate kids attending the U. They have to grow up going to games and watching big wins. The parents need to be fans of our Gophers, it all starts at home and the tides have changes for the better. It's kind of a chicken/egg thing. If 2019 continues to trend for Minnesota, there will be plenty of kids dreaming of being a Gopher.
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Hopefully not a few years but yes I agree with everything else you said.
 


builtbadgers said:
They stay home at UW because of a long run of success. UW football has been a huge deal for 27 years, winning the conference multiple times and winning three Rose Bowls. Football here can become that.
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Even with sustained success it will always be harder for us to lock down in-state recruits. Too much of the Twin-Cities area are transplants from elsewhere. You grow up with friends who's parents are UW grads, that moved here for jobs. Wisconsin and Iowa (Nebraska as well) consist mostly of families who have lived there for generations, and not much else. It's all they know. It's much easier to convince recruits to stay home when EVERYONE is telling them the same thing.

It might not be the worst thing to lose those guys. PJ's culture is unique, and he needs players who fit that culture. I'll take an Illinois recruit who's all in to RTB over an in-state recruit who isn't sure.
 



2021 Gophers' recruiting update: Defense


Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Gopher football head coach P.J. Fleck has stayed busy building the future of his program. He's seen impressive results.

Following the Gophers' breakout 2019 season, players across the country are buying into Fleck's system and culture. That has translated into recruiting. Despite struggling with recruiting in the past, the Gophers are quietly becoming a team that can attract four-star recruits to come to Minneapolis.

And Fleck has landed a pair of four-stars in the defensive backfield in Avante Dickerson and Steven Ortiz Jr. It wasn't the typical recruiting process for Fleck. Not only did he have to sell Dickerson and Ortiz Jr. on the program but also on the campus, facilities and surrounding area. Neither athlete has visited campus outside of Zoom virtual tours.

Nevertheless, Dickerson and Ortiz committed to the program in April and will join the Gophers in 2021 following the departure of starting cornerbacks Coney Durr and Benjamin St-Juste, who will graduate after the 2020 season. Dickerson and Ortiz, who are touted by scouts as lockdown corners with excellent ball skills, will look to fill the void of Durr and St-Juste upon their arrival.

Dickerson, a native of Omaha, Nebraska, is the top-ranked Gophers' recruit in 2021. He earned a .9486 rating from 247sports, making him the second-highest-rated recruit for Minnesota in the internet era.

Before committing to Minnesota, Dickerson nearly chose fellow Big Ten school Ohio State. Dickerson became close with former Buckeye assistant coach Jeff Hafley, who had spearheaded Dickerson's recruitment to OSU, but Hafley instead accepted a job offer at Boston College. After that switch, Dickerson had to rethink his decision. He chose Minnesota.

“I never visited Minnesota. During coronavirus, I was confused about what to do because I couldn’t go to any campuses and see their facilities. I committed to Minnesota because out of all of the colleges I was looking at, they cared about me the most, and I appreciated that," he said.

A recent conversation with Durr also aided in Dickerson's decision to come to the University.

“I asked him a ton of stuff about [cornerbacks] coach [Paul] Haynes. After talking with Coney, I got to know coach Haynes and watched some film with him. I really enjoyed both of them, and it was a big reason why I ended up signing at Minnesota," Dickerson said.


Go Gophers!!
 

Jimbo Slice said:
Even with sustained success it will always be harder for us to lock down in-state recruits. Too much of the Twin-Cities area are transplants from elsewhere. You grow up with friends who's parents are UW grads, that moved here for jobs. Wisconsin and Iowa (Nebraska as well) consist mostly of families who have lived there for generations, and not much else. It's all they know. It's much easier to convince recruits to stay home when EVERYONE is telling them the same thing.

It might not be the worst thing to lose those guys. PJ's culture is unique, and he needs players who fit that culture. I'll take an Illinois recruit who's all in to RTB over an in-state recruit who isn't sure.
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Great point that I don't think gets brought up enough. I think Fleck can (and probably will) break through that barrier, but it will take a few years. Minneapolis-St. Paul has become somewhat of a "Reloville" with a lot of middle and upper-middle class residents without deep roots in the community and, like you say, if the parents have interest/loyalty in their alma mater, it likely trickles down to their kids.

It's been going on for a few decades. I remember when the Twins were bad and you'd go out to a Twins/Yankees game and the game would be a near sell-out with Met Stadium holding a crowd made up of 3/4 Yankee fans.

As for the challenge for the U in football recruiting, I remember a player--I think it was Trevor Laws--who when asked why he chose Notre Dame over the Gophers said something to the effect that he didn't even consider the U and was pretty dismissive about it. We didn't hit on a lot of the great players at Cretin-Derham Hall for whatever reason. Brewster really tried to break through a C-DH, but he wasn't around long enough to see lasting success there.
 

BleedGopher said:
2021 Gophers' recruiting update: Defense


Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Gopher football head coach P.J. Fleck has stayed busy building the future of his program. He's seen impressive results.

Following the Gophers' breakout 2019 season, players across the country are buying into Fleck's system and culture. That has translated into recruiting. Despite struggling with recruiting in the past, the Gophers are quietly becoming a team that can attract four-star recruits to come to Minneapolis.

And Fleck has landed a pair of four-stars in the defensive backfield in Avante Dickerson and Steven Ortiz Jr. It wasn't the typical recruiting process for Fleck. Not only did he have to sell Dickerson and Ortiz Jr. on the program but also on the campus, facilities and surrounding area. Neither athlete has visited campus outside of Zoom virtual tours.

Nevertheless, Dickerson and Ortiz committed to the program in April and will join the Gophers in 2021 following the departure of starting cornerbacks Coney Durr and Benjamin St-Juste, who will graduate after the 2020 season. Dickerson and Ortiz, who are touted by scouts as lockdown corners with excellent ball skills, will look to fill the void of Durr and St-Juste upon their arrival.

Dickerson, a native of Omaha, Nebraska, is the top-ranked Gophers' recruit in 2021. He earned a .9486 rating from 247sports, making him the second-highest-rated recruit for Minnesota in the internet era.

Before committing to Minnesota, Dickerson nearly chose fellow Big Ten school Ohio State. Dickerson became close with former Buckeye assistant coach Jeff Hafley, who had spearheaded Dickerson's recruitment to OSU, but Hafley instead accepted a job offer at Boston College. After that switch, Dickerson had to rethink his decision. He chose Minnesota.

“I never visited Minnesota. During coronavirus, I was confused about what to do because I couldn’t go to any campuses and see their facilities. I committed to Minnesota because out of all of the colleges I was looking at, they cared about me the most, and I appreciated that," he said.

A recent conversation with Durr also aided in Dickerson's decision to come to the University.

“I asked him a ton of stuff about [cornerbacks] coach [Paul] Haynes. After talking with Coney, I got to know coach Haynes and watched some film with him. I really enjoyed both of them, and it was a big reason why I ended up signing at Minnesota," Dickerson said.


Go Gophers!!
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Coney is likely the most underrated player on our team. He is a blanket on the field and seems to do a lot of good for the program off of the field as well!
 

Bayfield Gopher said:
How many national titles have Wisconsin and Iowa won in the past 20-30 years. Probably nada, zilch or zero. Yet the vast majority of their homestate literally stay home inspite of no national titles.
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In the last 20 years there have been only 12 different schools that have won national titles. Only one from the B1G and none from what is now B1G West. That’s not the bar; if it was 90% of the FBS would fail that test. Wisconsin has sustained success for an entire generation since winning the RB and has far and away the most division and B1G titles, RB and BCS/NY6 appearances out of anyone in the current West division. That is why they continue to recruit well.
 

Recruiting takes 4 things:

1.) Coach who can cast a visions and develop relationships. CHECK
2.) Proven track record of developing NFL level talent - MOSTLY THERE
3.) Team culture that others want to be a part of. CHECK
4.) Winning, Winning, Winning - MOSTLY THERE

What I believe hurts us with local recruits is a culture of losing and coaching changes. A player from out of state isn't as impacted by this narrative. They just look at the 4 things mentioned above. MN players think about winning and it is hard for them or their parents to not think if I send my son to the U, the coach will either be gone or we will be back to our losing ways. Changing the MN mindset will take time.
 

btowngopher said:
Lol, Joe Alt magically upgraded over Purcell less than 24 hours after his ND verbal.
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I understand that the timing makes you scratch your head, but was he not more highly regarded than Purcell the whole time, regardless of ranking?
 

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