Roman Voss added to a growing list of top Minnesota football recruits picking the Gophers. Even in the transfer portal era that’s important, Michael Rand writes in today’s 10 things to know.

By Michael Rand

The Minnesota Star Tribune

June 24, 2025 at 5:04PM

Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck is on a recruiting roll. (Alex Kormann)

When it comes to the recruiting journeys of the very best high school athletes in Minnesota, the mental image I have goes something like this:

A talented athlete in a gymnasium, on a social media livestream or both, ready to announce his or her decision from a list of three-to-five colleges. Oftentimes, there are caps laid out for each school in contention.

A University of Minnesota team is often in contention to land the coveted recruit, but often it feels like the courtesy. There are one or two favored teams from nationally recognized schools, a dark horse or two, and the Gophers.

Minnesota is not picked, but the athlete does say nice things about the recruiting process.

Rinse, repeat.

That is why what is happening within the Gophers football program is both interesting and such a big deal — something I talked about on Tuesday’s Daily Delivery podcast.

For the third consecutive year, Gophers coach P.J. Fleck landed the top-ranked recruit from Minnesota.

Roman Voss, a four-star athlete in the Class of 2026 from Jackson County Central, picked Minnesota over more than a dozen other big-time programs.

The decision came down to the Gophers vs. Alabama.

The Crimson Tide have won six national titles since 2009. But as the Jackson County Pilot sports account on X noted, “The Boat outlasts the Tide.”

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That was after Cooper linebacker Emmanuel Karmo (2025) and Esko safety Koi Perich (2024) also picked Fleck’s Gophers.

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Gophers

Minnesota's top football recruit Roman Voss commits to Gophers over Alabama

I’m a big fan of “two things can be true at the same time” propositions, and this one fits: High school recruiting is not as important as it was even five years ago, before the transfer portal and NIL money made it easier for both athletes and teams to find plug-and-play fits.

But it is still a big deal that the Gophers landed Voss, Karmo and Perich. Players like that create excitement and enthusiasm within a fan base. Perich also showed that high-end talent can make an immediate impact when he dazzled as a true freshman.

This is an important time for the Gophers football program. If Minnesota is going to compete for College Football Playoff spots during its best seasons — which should be possible even with the influx of money into college sports — it has to get a lot of things right.

Landing another top recruit like Voss is a great sign.

Here are nine more things to know today:

Monday was also a good day for St. Thomas, which received official word that it will have full Division I status starting this fall.
The Twins were playing the “Bailey Ober only had one bad inning” game after he gave up six runs in the third frame of Monday’s unsightly 11-2 loss to the Mariners (their fifth consecutive home loss, and they’ve given up at least nine runs in all of them). That reminds me of a quarterback who is judged to have made just a few bad decisions in a multi-interception loss. They all count, and usually it is a big inning that dooms a pitcher.
Twins President Derek Falvey had a lot to say in a Monday session with reporters. If you thought you remembered being told the Twins had good pitching depth this season, apparently you didn’t hear it from Falvey. “Pitching depth is not a phrase that’s real to me,” Falvey said. “Every time you think you have some, it gets thinned.”
Falvey also said he’s not thinking about trading away players given the Twins are just a few games out of the wild card race. “If we have to cross that bridge, we’ll cross that bridge later, but that is not at all our focus right now. It’s to figure out how to get this team right back to where it needs to be,” he said. Jhoan Duran is the only Twins player on ESPN’s list of 50 potential deadline trade candidates.
Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers star who tore his Achilles in Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Sunday, put out a heartfelt message on Monday.

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It’s a ridiculously busy stretch for the Timberwolves, including the expected approval Tuesday of new owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez.
They’ll have a lot to sign off on almost immediately, including picks during Wednesday and Thursday’s draft, possible trades involving picks and/or players as well as free agency starting next week.
They also might have to replace an assistant coach. Micah Nori is reportedly interviewing for the Knicks head coaching vacancy.
Star Tribune columnist Jim Souhan was my guest on Tuesday’s podcast, talking mostly about the 11-1 Lynx.

about the writer

Michael Rand

Columnist / Reporter

Michael Rand is the Minnesota Star Tribune's Digital Sports Senior Writer and host/creator of the Daily Delivery podcast. In 25 years covering Minnesota sports at the Minnesota Star Tribune, he has seen just about everything (except, of course, a Vikings Super Bowl).