Gophers football team lands key recruits ahead of ‘Summer Splash’

Over the next two weekends, the Gophers football program will hold its “Summer Splash” recruiting gatherings, in which coach P.J. Fleck and his staff play host to roughly 30 high school seniors-to-be with the hopes of turning scholarship offers into verbal commitments for Minnesota’s 2025 recruiting class.

Late Wednesday night and early into Thursday morning, Fleck and Co. made a pre-Summer Splash splash by securing commitments from three players who attended a camp on campus.

Ethan Stendel, an athlete from Caledonia, Minn.; Colin Hansen, a defensive end from Byron, Minn.; and Rhett Hlavacka, a linebacker from Fond du Lac, Wis., each announced on the X platform that they had committed to the Gophers.

The commitments continued Thursday afternoon when Grant Washington, a three-star running back from St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, pledged to the Gophers. The addition of the four players gives the Gophers 10 commitments to their 2025 class, with more to come during the Summer Splash weekends.

Stendel got the late-night flurry started Wednesday at 10:18 p.m. with his announcement. The 6-3, 200-pounder plays quarterback for Caledonia but could end up at linebacker in college. He passed for 1,482 yards and 12 touchdowns and rushed for 382 yards and 10 TDs last year for the Warriors, a perennial Class 2A power. Stendel is a two-star recruit and No. 23-ranked player in Minnesota in the 2025 class, according to 247Sports. He has scholarship offers from North Dakota and Northern Iowa and received interest from South Dakota State and North Dakota State.

Hansen posted his announcement on X at 11:33 p.m. The 6-7, 235-pounder is a three-star recruit and the state’s No. 9-ranked player in Minnesota in the 2025 class. His scholarship offers included FBS schools Washington State, Northern Illinois and Ohio University, along with FCS teams North Dakota State, Northern Iowa and South Dakota.

Hlavacka announced his commitment at 12:12 a.m. Thursday. The 6-4, 235-pounder is a three-star recruit and the No. 17 player in Wisconsin in the 2025 class, according to 247Sports. Hlavacka had 110 tackles (71 solo), 11 tackles for loss, three sacks and three forced fumbles for Fond du Lac in 2023. His list of offers includes Memphis, Northern Illinois, Ohio University, Illinois State and Northern Iowa.

Washington, 5-10 and 195 pounds, committed to Central Michigan on May 21 but changed his mind and chose the Gophers after participating in Thursday’s camp. He’s the 70th-ranked player in Ohio and has offers from five Mid-American Conference schools, plus Army, Navy and Arkansas State.

Fleck and his staff will try to add to the 2025 class this weekend with roughly 20 players visiting. Included in that group are six players who have verbally committed to the program: Cooper edge rusher Emmanuel Karmo, the top-ranked Minnesotan in the 2025 class; Laguna Beach, Calif., quarterback Jackson Kollock; Middleton, Wis., defensive lineman Torin Pettaway; Avon, Ind., edge rusher Enoch Atewogbola; Newton, Ga., cornerback Zachry Harden; and Mentor, Ohio, tight end Cross Nimmo.

Highly ranked targets scheduled to visit this weekend include:

• Running back Isaiah Groves, who rushed for 3,085 yards and 31 TDs for East Robertson High in Cross Plains, Tenn., last year. Groves, the Class 2A Mr. Football in Tennessee in 2023, has visited Northwestern and has visits scheduled for West Virginia and Georgia Tech.

• Running back Kentrell Rinehart, who had 3,003 all-purpose yards and 46 TDs for Bishop Ready High School in Columbus, Ohio, last year. Rinehart, who will play for Westland High in Galloway, Ohio, this year, has visits scheduled for Iowa, North Carolina State and Syracuse.

On the weekend of June 14-16, the Gophers will be host to at least 11 players, including committed tight end Cameron Begalle of Andover. Highly ranked targets that weekend include:

• Wide receiver Terrence Smith, a 6-3, 185-pounder from West Aurora (Ill.) High School. Smith also has a visit scheduled with Iowa.

• Offensive tackle Mark Handy, a 6-5½, 310-pounder from La Cueva High in Albuquerque, N.M. Handy has visited Duke and Arizona State and has visits scheduled for Arkansas and Utah.