Eden Prairie’s Jayden Bates goes from middle school to scholarship offer from Gophers’ P.J. Fleck

College football coaches recruiting middle schoolers is a rare occurrence, but defensive lineman Jayden Bates of Eden Prairie seems like a rare prospect. The 14-year-old incoming high school freshman was the talk of P.J. Fleck’s Gophers football elite camp this week.

Bates used his athleticism, skill and size beyond his years to stand out among the big boys — and picked up a scholarship offer from Fleck and the Gophers.

“It feels good that someone on coach Fleck’s level acknowledged what he was doing,” Bates’ father, Titus, told the Minnesota Star Tribune. “It doesn’t get bigger than that right now.”

The 6-4, 210-pound Bates fared well against older prospects Monday in front of Fleck and his Gophers assistants, including defensive line coach Dennis Dottin-Carter.

That led to Bates becoming the first Class of 2029 player to be offered a scholarship by the U. He’s also believed to be the youngest Minnesota player to receive an offer from the Gophers since Fleck arrived in 2017.

“It was definitely a dream of mine,” Bates said. “It kind of felt amazing. It’s something I didn’t expect, but it tells me the hard work is paying off.”

Fleck’s program has been generating heavy recruiting buzz lately with the Gophers being flooded with Class of 2026 commitments, including four-star Texas running back Ryan Estrada this week. The Gophers are also among the finalists for top in-state senior prospects Roman Voss from Jackson County Central and Pierce Petersohn from Triton in Dodge Center. Petersohn narrowed his list to Penn State and the U recently.

Bates, a former wrestler who just started dunking a basketball off a no-step vertical jump, is in the earliest stages of his recruiting. Gophers fans surely hope that his first college offer coming from the home-state school carries extra weight down the road.

“He’ll keep working and showing everybody, especially coach Fleck, that he made the right choice,” Titus Bates said. “We have been to Gophers games. We’ll plan to attend many more now. Row the boat.”

The Gophers seemed to be sold on Bates’ pass-rushing potential when he competed well at camp against 6-5, 285-pound three-star Hamilton (Sussex, Wis.) 2028 offensive tackle Reece Mallinger, who picked up a Fleck offer as well.

One of the last known in-state football prospects to pick up a Gophers offer as early as eighth grade was former Cretin-Derham Hall star tackle Seantrel Henderson, who went on to play at Miami (Fla.) and in the NFL.

The last Eden Prairie player to sign with an FBS power conference program was Chiddi Obiazor, now a redshirt sophomore defensive end at Kansas State.

The Eagles have seniors with FCS offers entering next season, including defensive tackle Gavin Walden, tight end Braden Minta and offensive lineman Ethan Sather.

This summer, Bates is working out with the Eden Prairie varsity team and should be playing soon for longtime head coach Mike Grant. Bates’ father is also an assistant/running backs coach at the school.

“There were schools [Monday] night calling from all over the country to touch base,” Grant said. “He’s never played a snap of high school football. But he’s a great kid, high character. He’ll work his [tail] off.”

The youngest of seven siblings, Bates learned about what it takes to play high school football from watching his older brothers. Jacory, who transferred from Minnesota State Mankato to University of Wisconsin-La Crosse this spring, was a starting defensive back at EP two years ago. Justice will be a senior running back this year for the Eagles.

“He’s been out there running around when I was coaching the older kids and he was absorbing it,” Titus Bates said. “Jayden’s the youngest. He listens to his brothers and is a very humble kid. You would never know he got an offer from Fleck because he’s so modest.”