Minnesota picks up commitment from ’22 WR Ike White

P.J. Fleck and the Gophers have been red hot on the recruiting trail as of late, landing three commitments over the last six days. 5-foot-10-inch wide receiver Ike White joins recent commitments Zach Evans and Spencer Alvarez to an ever-so-growing 2022 recruiting class. White, a three-star prospect according to 247sports chose Minnesota over top offers from schools such as Tennessee, Virginia Tech and Cincinnati. His commitment comes after being offered by the school on Feb. 25 and taking his first official visit on June, 11.

COMMITTED…🤝‼️ pic.twitter.com/aViwlxMoWB

— Ike White (@IkeWhite116) June 16, 2021

Who is Ike White?:

Ike White is a 5-foot-10-inch student-athlete who attends St. Frances Academy (SFA) in Baltimore, Maryland. SFA is a Roman Catholic private school that was founded in 1828. The school is located in an East Baltimore neighborhood of Johnston Square, which is home to the second-highest homicide rate in Baltimore. Since forming in 2008, the school’s football program is now home to one of the best in the country let alone the state. After Biff Poggi took over as head coach in the late 2010s the program began to heavily recruit football players to their school, which has a total enrollment of just over 200 students. They would become virtually unbeatable outscoring their opponents 534 to 61 during the 2017 season. The Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association which is home to many of the private schools in the Baltimore area would decide to kick SFA’s football team out of the conference citing “health and safety concerns” due to the large gap in talent.

The Panthers then decided to play one of the toughest schedules in the country. In 2019, they faced top programs such as IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL), Mater Dei (Santa Ana, CA) and Simeon High School (Chicago, IL). They began to get serious national attention and eventually got a documentary TV Series on HBO titled “The Cost of Winning” which highlighted their 2019 football campaign.

White, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native transferred to St. Frances Academy before his sophomore season and his role was minimal. The school had an altered spring season in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so he has not had much opportunity to show his skills on Friday nights. He was one of the top performers at the Baltimore Under Armour All-American camp and schools began to take notice. He now looks showcase his full skillset as a senior in 2021 before he heads to Dinkytown.

• Scouting Report:

On the film that White does have, his pure athleticism jumps off the screen right away. He has a very similar skillset to fellow 2022 Gophers WR-recruit Kristen Hoskins. White has elite speed which helps him consistently blow past defenders with ease. His reported 4.4 speed is all that you could ask for in a Big Ten wide receiver. He also has the strength to be a serious threat after the catch in the open field, with the skills to be an effective blocker. Like many receivers his age he has room to go in the route running department, but there is no reason why he can’t develop in that area once he is in the Gophers’ system. He has the chance to be a serious diamond in the rough type of player.

What is next?:

According to 247sports, the Gophers’ 2022 class ranks 30th nationally. Since the NCAA’s decision to lift its dead period in late April, Minnesota has been busy recruiting offering what seems like 50 players scholarships, and now landing three commitments since then.

The 2022 class now includes

• DL Trey Bixby
• QB Jacob Knuth
• WR Kristen Hoskins
• OL Tony Nelson
• DB Coleman Bryson
• TE Spencer Alvarez
• RB Zach Evans
• WR Ike White

The Gophers had 18 total commitments in the class of 2021, so I expected the 2022 class to be far from complete.