Gophers among final four for Cooper football standout Jaxon Howard

Robbinsdale Cooper's Jaxon Howard, the top-ranked high school football recruit in Minnesota for the Class of 2023, announced Monday on Twitter that he has narrowed his list of prospective college programs to four: the Gophers, LSU, Miami (Fla.) and Michigan.

Howard, a four-star athlete according to the 247Sports.com composite of major national recruiting services, is the seventh-ranked athlete nationally and the 87^th-ranked player overall. At 6-4 and 245 pounds, Howard is receiving interest as both a tight end and a defensive lineman.

Howard tweeted that he has received scholarship offers from more than 60 schools and has had 41 official visits. He plans to make official visits to his final four schools: the Gophers on June 10-12, Michigan on June 17-19, LSU on June 21-23 and Miami on June 24-26.

Gophers coach P.J. Fleck has received verbal commitments from four of the top six players in Minnesota in the 2023 class as ranked by the 247Sports composite: They are Osseo offensive lineman Jerome Williams (No. 2 in the state), Kasson-Mantorville offensive tackle Reese Tripp (No. 4), Prior Lake offensive tackle Greg Johnson (No. 5) and Prior Lake defensive lineman Martin Owusu (No. 6). The Gophers also have offered Moorhead defensive lineman Elinneus Davis (No. 3 in Minnesota), who is scheduled to make his official visit June 10. Davis also has official visits scheduled for Vanderbilt, Iowa State and Washington.

The Gophers 2023 class, which has seven commitments, is ranked No. 7 in the Big Ten and No. 22 nationally in the 247Sports composite.