Gophers sign the top three in-state recruits, and reel in 18 others that have P.J. Fleck raving

The top three players in Minnesota? Check.

A four-star quarterback from California? Check.

Add size and strength along both lines? Check.

Those are some of the key takeaways of the Gophers’ 2025 high school recruiting class that signed its binding financial aid agreements Wednesday morning during the opening day of college football’s early signing period.

By 9:20 a.m., coach P.J. Fleck had signed a 20-player class that is highlighted by the top-ranked recruit in Minnesota, Cooper linebacker Emmanuel Karmo. The Gophers also landed the Nos. 2 and 3 recruits in Minnesota, as ranked by 247Sports, in Caledonia linebacker Ethan Stendel and Providence Academy/Heritage Christian Academy defensive lineman Abu Tarawallie.

Wednesday evening, the class grew to 21 when running back Trey Berry of Lanier High School in Montgomery, Ala., signed with the Gophers.

The Minnesota signees had Fleck excited.

“We keep talking about taking care of the in-state players,” Fleck said. “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. And 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.”

In Karmo, the Gophers secured a highly sought-after player who can disrupt an opponent’s offense. Karmo had scholarship offers from nine other Big Ten teams, with Wisconsin and Nebraska pushing hard. “Everybody was kind of holding their breath, and rightfully so,” Fleck said of Karmo. “But this guy has stayed true from Day One, and I give him a lot of credit for that.”

At Cooper, Karmo played multiple positions on both sides of the ball, and Fleck can see him using that skill on defense at the collegiate level.

“Our versatility is our strength,” Fleck said. “Emmanuel brings a lot of versatility to our program. Every blue blood in the country came after him.”

Along with Karmo, Stendel and Tarawallie, the Gophers also signed Minnesota players in defensive lineman Colin Hansen of Byron, punter Luke Ryerse from East Ridge and kicker Daniel Jackson of Alexandria.

Fleck sees the importance of how in-state pride can translate into border-battle success, such as the Gophers experienced in a 24-7 win at Wisconsin on Friday that secured possession of Paul Bunyan’s Axe for the third time in four years.

“We’re only five days removed from our biggest rival, and you watch how hard our players play, more than a quarter of our team is from the state of Minnesota,” Fleck said. “They grow up understanding that rivalry, and we want to keep adding to that because I thought our players had to have it, fought for it and played their tail end off to bring the Axe back to Minneapolis.”

The Gophers can’t rely solely on in-state talent, and they looked to California to find a quarterback.

Jackson Kollock, a four-star recruit who’s ranked No. 29 nationally at his position, will be an early enrollee in January. He picked Minnesota after originally committing to Washington.

“Jackson earned that [Minnesota scholarship],” Fleck said, “and he was able to keep his commitment true.”

Kollock was one of five signees from either the Mountain or Pacific time zone, and that was an example of how the westward expansion of the Big Ten can impact recruiting.

“It was great to be able to really make that pipeline and connection out to the West Coast, which we’ll continue to recruit at a very high level,” Fleck said. “… We’re going to take care of the state of Minnesota, but from there, we’re a national recruiting base.”

Fleck and his staff addressed the lines, too, adding four offensive linemen, led by Mark Handy of Albuquerque, N.M., and five defensive linemen, highlighted by high three-star Jayquan Stubbs of Cleveland Heights, Ohio.

The Gophers couldn’t convert all of their verbal commitments into signees. Minnesota’s class entering the week had 22 members, but two players changed their minds and signed elsewhere.

Running back Shane Marshall from Ocilla, Ga., who’s rushed for more than 1,800 yards this season, signed with Georgia Tech on Wednesday.

Safety Grant Grayton from Olney, Md., announced his decommitment on Wednesday and signed with Kentucky.

“As we look at it in terms of the guys that didn’t sign, again, we know different information that you guys don’t know, and we’re not allowed to talk about a player,” Fleck told reporters. “… We have 20 players that signed, and that’s our focus.”

That turned to 21 with the evening signing of Berry, a 5-11, 205-pound three-star recruit who’s ranked the 48th-best player in Alabama and the 111th-ranked running back nationally.

As of 8 p.m. Wednesday, the class ranked 51st nationally and 15th in the Big Ten, according to the 247Sports.com composite ratings of major recruiting services.

Fleck said he expects to add between 10 and 15 players from the transfer portal, which opens Monday. Included in that group will be a quarterback to compete with redshirt-freshman-to-be Drake Lindsey, Virginia Tech transfer Dylan Wittke and walk-on Max Shikenjanski.

“I’ve been very transparent with all of our quarterbacks at our meetings,” Fleck said. “We absolutely are going to bring in a transfer quarterback to compete.”