P.J. Fleck keeps 3 top in-state recruits home, plans to add QB out of transfer portal
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Coming off a seven-win regular season and upcoming bowl game, the University of Minnesota football team signed 20 incoming freshmen to the 2025 class on Wednesday.
It’s National Signing Day for high school recruits in the early period, and P.J. Fleck prefers to ink his new players in December, rather than in February. Fleck had all 20 of his incoming players signed by shortly after 9 a.m. The class currently ranks No. 51 nationally, and No. 15 in the Big Ten.
The Gophers also had their first bowl practice on Wednesday. They’ll learn their bowl destination Sunday night, after conference championship games are held and the College Football Playoff teams are solidified.
The 2025 class
For the second straight year and seventh time in nine seasons, Fleck kept the No. 1 player in the state home. Cooper edge rusher Emmanuel Karmo signed with the Gophers on Wednesday. Last year, it was Esko’s Koi Perich, who was just named First-Team All-Big Ten after five interceptions as a freshman.
In Fleck’s eyes, he also kept Minnesota’s top three players home. That includes Caledonia linebacker Ethan Stendel, and Abu Tarawallie, a defensive lineman out of Heritage Christian Academy. Fleck also signed East Ridge punter Luke Ryerse, one of the best in the nation, who will also likely play baseball at Minnesota. Fleck kept six in-state players home, the second-most in his tenure.
"We keep talking about taking care of the in-state players. The No. 1, 2 and 3 players from the state of Minnesota stayed home, which now we have that trend. More and more players are staying home because they want to stay home," Fleck said. If you go back eight years ago to when these kids were 9 years old when we first got here, they were at our little kids’ camp."
Fleck says the class features five four-star athletes, two of them being in-state players. He also landed four-star quarterback Jackson Kollock.
Here is the class in its entirety:
Offensive Line
Mark Handy, Albuquerque, N.M. / La Cueva
Kaveon Lee, Plainfield Ill. / Plainfield Central
Daniel Shipp, Eastvale, Calif. / Centennial
Nicholas Spence, Peoria, Ariz. / Liberty
Quarterback
Jackson Kollock, Laguna Beach, Calif. / Laguna Beach
Running Back
Grant Washington, Avon, Ohio / St. Ignatius
Wide Receiver
Legend Lyons, Covina, Cali. / Charter Oak
Bradley Martino, Naples Fla. / First Baptist Academy
Defensive Line
Enoch Atewogbola, Avon, Ind. / Avon
Colin Hansen, Byron, Minn. / Byron
Rhett Hlavacka, Fond du Lac, Wis. / Fond du Lac
Jayquan Stubbs, Cleveland, Ohio / Cleveland Heights
Abu Tarawallie, Freetown, Sierra Leone and New Hope, Minn. / Providence Academy
Linebacker
Nate Cleveland, Hoffman Estates, Ill. / Hoffman Estates
Emmanuel Karmo, Minneapolis, Minn. / Robbinsdale Cooper
Ethan Stendel, Caledonia, Minn. / Caledonia
Defensive Back
Zack Harden Jr., Eatonton, Ga. / Newton
Naiim Parrish, Freehold, N.J. / Bergen Catholic
Kicker
Daniel Jackson, Alexandria, Minn. / Alexandria Area
Punter
Luke Ryerse, Woodbury, Minn. / East Ridge
The transfer portal
Fleck said Wednesday he’s already had conversations with a majority of the 2024 roster that can return. The NCAA transfer portal officially opens Dec. 9, but some players are already announcing their departure. Fleck said the Gophers will add between 10-15 players out of the transfer portal, depending on the numbers.
He did say they plan to bring in a starting-caliber quarterback from the portal to compete. Max Brosmer is out of eligibility. Redshirt freshman Drake Lindsay will compete for the starting job in 2025, and other quarterbacks on the roster include Max Shikenjanski and Dylan Wittke.