PJ Fleck and his coaching staff have been working overtime on making the Gopher football 2024 recruiting class the best, on paper, of his 7-year tenure as Minnesota Gophers head coach. And while there’s still work to be done and the commitments are only verbal, it’s trending toward being one of the strongest in modern program history.
Gopher football 2024 recruiting class makes appearance in national top-10
As of Sunday afternoon, in fact, it ranks as the 10th best in the country, both via 247Sports and the 247Sports composite (combines recruiting ratings from 247Sports, ESPN and Rivals).
Minnesota will fall out of the top-10 come National Signing Day. They have 23 commits and will only take a select few more. There are a bunch of helmet schools with under 15 commits who will add multiple 4-5 star players between now and then. But with a strong finish, it could realistically be Fleck’s first top-25 class since being hired back in 2017.
PJ Fleck & Co finding success in and out of state
Fleck has seen a lot of success recruiting within Minnesota state lines in this class, receiving commitments from 7 of the top 9 local prospects, according to 247Sports. But the Gophers have had plenty of success outside of the state, too. In fact, 7 of the class’ top-10 rated commits are going to high school somewhere other than Minnesota.
| Recruit | State | Pos | Composite Rating | Splash Commit |
| Nathan Roy | WI | OT | .9309 (4-Star) | Yes |
| Adam Kissayi | FL | EDGE | .8900 (3-Star) | Yes |
| Riley Sunram | ND | iOL | .8867 (3-Star) | No |
| Koi Perich | MN | S | .8819 (3-Star) | No |
| Jacob Simpson | IA | TE | .8817 (3-Star) | Yes |
| Jaylin Hicks | NY | DL | .8750 (3-Star) | Yes |
| Jide Abasiri | MN | DL | .8728 (3-Star) | No |
| Mo Saine | MN | DL | .8700 (3-Star) | No |
| Zahir Rainer | VA | S | .8689 (3-Star) | No |
| Corey Smith | IN | WR | .8672(3-Star) | No |
As of now, the 2024 class’ jewel recruit is offensive tackle, Nathan Roy, from Mukwonago, WI. If you go by composite rating, the 6’5″, 275 lb 4-star is the 5th-best recruit of the internet era to commit to the University of Minnesota. He had offers from UCLA (where his brother plays), Florida, Ohio State, Penn State, Oklahoma, Miami (FL), Penn State, USC, Wisconsin and Tennessee, among others.
The 2024 class was looking pretty good early on in the recruiting cycle. But recently, the commitments have shifted into overdrive. Between last weekend’s “Summer Splash” event and the one that took place over the last couple days, PJ Fleck & Co reeled in a total of 8 commitments, including Roy, and Adam Kissayi, who has the 2nd highest 247Sports composite rating so far in the class.
Need to finish strong
To finish the class off strong, according to recruiting insider, Ryan Burns of GopherIllustrated.com – 247Sports), the Gophers are waiting on decisions from a handful of highly regarded recruits, two of whom are in-state.
For those asking what’s next, it’s waiting to see what Emerson Mandell, Wyatt Gilmore, Brett Carroll and a couple others decide. Gophers’ staff is elated with what they have so far, and now we wait until the end of June/early July to see if this hot streak hits a different temperature
Ryan Burns – GopherIllustrated.com
Emerson Mandell is another offensive tackle who, according to what he texted Burns, is planning to make his decision sometime in the “next couple of weeks”. If he chooses Minnesota, the Saint Paul native would be the 2nd composite 4-star commit of the 2024 class.
Wyatt Gilmore is another in-state 3-star prospect. If both he and Mandell end up staying home, that would make PJ Fleck 9 of 9 in commitments from Minnesota’s top high school recruits of the 2024 class.
In a world where recruiting at a school like Minnesota is harder than ever before, It appears the Gophers are going to pull in one of the best classes in modern history next year. Early National Signing Day is February 7. It will be Fleck & Co’s job to make sure they keep their best commits and between now and then, as well as adding a few more to round the class out.
Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan