Gophers add two to 2023 recruiting class, get 1st commitment for 2024

Donielle Hayes, a wide receiver from Pine Forest High School in Pensacola, Fla., on Sunday morning became the second player this weekend to commit to the Gophers football team's 2023 recruiting class, announcing on Twitter that he's joining coach P.J. Fleck's program.

Coupled with the late Saturday night commitment of running back Marquese Williams of Bishop McDevitt High School in Harrisburg, Pa., the Gophers have 17 pledges for 2023. As of Sunday morning, those additions have the Gophers class ranked 10^th nationally and fourth in the Big Ten in the 247Sports composite ratings of major recruiting services.

Hayes, 6-0 and 180 pounds, is a three-star recruit who is ranked the 115^th-best prospect in Florida and the 105^th-best wide receiver prospect in the 2023 class, according to the 247Sports composite. Hayes caught 30 passes for 722 yards and 10 touchdowns and returned two kickoffs and one punt for touchdowns for Pine Forest, which advanced to Florida's Class 4A championship game.

Hayes, who made his official visit to the Gophers this weekend, had 15 other scholarship offers, including Arkansas State, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, South Florida and Washington State.

Williams gives the Gophers a strong running back tandem with Darius Taylor of Walled Lake, Mich. Williams rushed for 1,697 yards and 25 TDs and caught 13 passes for 217 yards and five TDs as a junior last year. Williams is the second-highest rated recruit in the Gophers class in the 247Sports composite, behind only four-star offensive lineman Jerome Williams of Osseo.

The Gophers on Sunday also picked up their first commitment of the 2024 recruiting class when Mason Carrier, a linebacker from Detroit Lakes, Minn., announced on Twitter that he's joining the program. Carrier, 6-2 and 200 pounds, is considered a three-star recruit by 247Sports and is ranked the third-best prospect in Minnesota in the 2024 class. His brother, Ethan Carrier, also committed to the Gophers as a preferred walk-on for the 2023 class on Sunday. He falls in the athlete category.