Gophers football lands two more recruits: West Fargo pass rusher Karter Menz and Naples, Fla., safety Kerry Brown

The most recent commit, Karter Menz is the top-ranked player in North Dakota and became the fifth player to pledge after 'Summer Splash' recruiting weekend.

June 13, 2022 at 10:02PM
The Minnesota Gophers were led out to the field by Minnesota Gophers head coach PJ Fleck before Thursday night's game against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.
Coach P.J. Fleck and the Gophers are putting together their 2023 recruiting class. (Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The Gophers football program on Monday afternoon received two more verbal commitments from players who attended the "Summer Splash'' recruiting event over the weekend. Karter Menz, an edge rusher from West Fargo, N.D., joined safety Kerry Brown of Naples, Fla., in announcing on Twitter that they are joining coach P.J. Fleck's 2023 recruiting class.

Menz, 6-5 and 215 pounds, is a three-star recruit, the top-ranked 2023 prospect in North Dakota and the 78th-ranked edge rusher nationally by the 247Sports composite ratings of major recruiting services. Menz has scholarship offers from 12 FBS programs, including Power Five offers from Nebraska, Stanford, Kansas, Vanderbilt, Kansas State and Washington State.

Brown, 6-0 and 175 pounds, is a three-star recruit and the 129th-ranked player in Florida and the 80th-ranked safety nationally in the 247Sports composite. He had 19 scholarship offers from FBS programs and 12 from Power Five programs, including North Carolina State, Boston College, Illinois, Indiana and Maryland.

Menz and Brown follow Maple Grove tight end Sam Peters; Gary, Ind., offensive tackle De'Eric Mister; and Austin, Texas, linebacker Latreveon McCutchin in committing to the Gophers after visiting this weekend. Fleck and his staff had nearly 30 prospects on campus for the "Summer Splash'' event, and more players could commit this week.

The Gophers have 14 players committed to their 2023 recruiting class and have added five since Friday. Their class ranked fourth in the Big Ten and 12th nationally in the 247Sports composite as of Monday afternoon.

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about the writer

Randy Johnson

College football reporter

Randy Johnson covers University of Minnesota football and college football for the Star Tribune, along with Gophers hockey and the Wild.

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