The website 247Sports.com, which focuses on recruiting, released its latest Top247 list of the best football players in the high school Class of 2018, and a wide receiver who has verbally committed to the Gophers joined the list.
Gophers wide receiver recruit Rashod Bateman earns four-star rating
Rashod Bateman of Tift County High School in Tifton, Ga., is No. 200 on 247Sports' Top 247. He will visit Minnesota this weekend and is expected to sign during the Dec. 20-22 early signing period.
December 6, 2017 at 7:30PM
Rashod Bateman, a senior at Tift County High School in Tifton, Ga., is ranked No. 200 on the list after an outstanding season and has been upgraded to four-star status by the website. He is the highest-ranked Gophers recruit.
Bateman, 6-1½, 180 pounds, caught 83 passes for 1,539 yards and 21 touchdowns this season for the Blue Devils. He verbally committed to the Gophers in June, announced he was shutting down his recruitment on Nov. 19 and will make his official visit to Minnesota this weekend as part of the "eLITe18Palooza'' recruiting event. On Nov. 29, Fleck, wide receivers coach Matt Simon and defensive backs coach Maurice Linguist (who recruits Georgia) visited Bateman at his home. That day also was Fleck's and Bateman's birthday.
Bateman is expected to sign his national letter of intent with the Gophers during the Dec. 20-22 early signing period.
An uncommitted Gophers recruiting target who will be visiting this weekend, offensive guard Curtis Dunlap of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., made the top 247. The 6-4, 368-pounder is ranked No. 233. Dunlap withdrew his verbal commitment to Florida on Tuesday.
Cornerback Taiyon Palmer of Archer High School in Lawrenceville, Ga., is rated No. 193. He withdrew his commitment from Duke on Thursday and has an offer from the Gophers. On Friday, Palmer tweeted that he appreciated Linguist visiting him and reconfirming the Gophers' offer.
Academic All-Big Ten selections named
The Big Ten announced its Academic All-Big Ten teams for fall sports, and 32 Gophers football players were honored. To be eligible, student-athletes needed a 3.0 cumulative grade-point average and be enrolled full-time for a minimum of 12 months.
The Gophers honorees are:
Colton Beebe, Emmit Carpenter, Carter Coughlin, Coney Durr, Clay Geary, Jacob Herbers, Drew Hmielewski, Phillip Howard, Julian Huff, Merrick Jackson, Payton Jordahl, Justin Juenemann, Ko Kieft, Brandon Lingen, Logan McElfresh, Gary Moore, Matthew Morse, Quinn Oseland, Samuel Pickerign, Will Reger, Sam Renner, Conor Rhoda, Steven Richardson, Ryan Santoso, Sam Schlueter, Bailey Schoenfelder, Andrew Stelter, Calvin Swenson, Jared Weyler, Everett Williams, Mark Williams and Antoine Winfield Jr.
Aaron Huglen and wife Maddie are expecting their first baby right before the Gophers take aim at a sixth NCAA title.
