The overall rank of the Gophers football program’s 2026 recruiting class is strong: 24th in the nation, per 247Sports composite ranking as of Tuesday morning.

“A top 25 class, especially in this day and age where there’s all kinds of moving parts, I think is really, really good,” Allen Trieu, an analyst for 247Sports, told the Pioneer Press. “Minnesota is, I know, involved a little bit in NIL, but not really to the level of some of these other schools.

Minnesota Gophers head coach PJ Fleck gives fans the thumbs up after the Gophers’ 31-28 victory over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in a NCAA football game at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

“So, I think to be able to recruit without doing that and have a top 25 class just tells you the job that the staff can do. (Head coach) P.J. Fleck always had that ability to recruit. That stands out right away.”

Minnesota’s class has 31 total commits, which is tied for fourth most in the nation, behind Bill Belichick’s rebuilding job at North Carolina (39), West Virginia (35) and the top-ranked overall class, Southern Cal (34). The U is tied with Wake Forest, while Georgia (30) and Miami Hurricanes (29) are next.

When factoring in average ranking per recruit, the Gophers’ class rank dips to 36th in the country.

Here are six takeaways on the Gophers class:

In-state success

The Gophers continue to bring in the best the state of Minnesota has to offer. In 2026, that includes the three of the top four ranked recruits: defensive lineman Howie Johnson of Forest Lake, tight end Roman Voss of Jackson and offensive tackle Andrew Trout of Cold Spring. Those three are among the top five overall prospects in the U’s class for next year.

RELATED: Who’s in the Gopher football top-25 ranked 2026 recruiting class?

“They’ve done a great job of protecting the state the last couple years,” Trieu said. “There’s been high-end kids who have a chance to leave the state of Minnesota.”

The second-ranked recruit in the state, Pierce Petersohn of Dodge Center, wanted to play tight end in college and that position was first promised to Voss. Petersohn then committed to Penn State, but flipped to Virginia Tech after James Franklin changed jobs.

Wins to the east

The Gophers also went into Wisconsin and took its top in-state recruit, offensive tackle Gavin Meier of Janesville, and its third-ranked recruit, athlete Lamont Hamilton of Racine.

“Going over there and winning a couple of recruiting battles and then beating Wisconsin on the field, that’s something that you have to do when you’re at the University of Minnesota,” Trieu said, including the 17-7 win over the Badgers in the Battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe on Saturday.

The Gophers also got offensive lineman Beckett Schreiber from Madison and tight end George Rohl of Ellsworth.

The Badgers did not gain a commitment from any Minnesota high schooler this cycle. Both schools sought Iowa Central Community College linebacker Taylor Schaefer, and the Badgers got the commitment from the Brussels, Wis. native.

Strength of class

Trieu pegged defensive line as the strongest position in the Gophers’ class. Besides Johnson, the Gophers also got four-star edge Aaden Aytch out of Lafayette, Ind.

“That’s such an important position,” Trieu said. “If you can get guys who can get to the quarterback and create some disruption, you’ve seen the success a couple of years ago. Anthony Smith was this huge recruit for them (in 2022), and you see how much of an impact guys like that can have. To get a class with, I think, several difference makers of that position is hard to do.”

Prospects who got away

The Gophers had seven recruits this cycle back out of their pledges to Minnesota, including two four-star offensive linemen: Daniel McMorris (committed to California) and Mataalii Benjamin (Utah). Receiver Kai Meza also went to Cal.

The Texas Longhorns snagged two commitments away from the U: running back Jett Walker and tight end/linebacker Charlie Jilek.

Kansas State came in and flipped two of Minnesota’s three transfer commits from Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College: receiver Derick Salley and safety Michael Graham. But Hutch defensive tackle KJ Henson has stayed with the U.

Sleeper?

Defensive lineman Jeremiah Benson is considered a low three-star recruit, but the 6-foot-3, 265-pound product from West Bloomfield, Mich., might live up to his self-given “Boogeyman” nickname.

“He’s very quick and disruptive,” said Trieu, who is based in Michigan. “And I’ve seen him a couple of times. … I think our staff at 247 does a really good job, but that’s one where I think the ranking could come back and haunt us a little bit. I think he’s better than what the numbers show.”

The Hawkeyes, according to 247Sports, were making a late push to steal Benson away from Minnesota this week.

Two QBs

The Gophers have taken one quarterback in each of the last five classes. This year they are taking two, doubling down on internal development at the all-important position, while knowing it takes a lot of NIL to get a good one out of the transfer portal.

Owen Lansu of Downers Grove, Ill., committed tot Minnesota in July 2024. His senior season was interrupted by injury.

“Staff really liked him and took him early when they could have waited,” Trieu said.

Then this fall, the Gophers pursued additional QBs and got a commitment from Brady Palmer of San Diego last weekend. The three-star recruit left the Cal class after the firing of head coach Justin Wilcox.

“(Palmer has) big production and a lot of arm talent, and had a lot of schools out west looking at him,” Trieu said. “That it’ll be interesting to see how that that plays out.”

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By GRAHAM DUNBAR, Associated Press Sports Writer

GENEVA (AP) — Russian skiers and snowboarders won a court ruling on Tuesday to apply as neutral athletes for qualification events to the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics after nearly four years of being excluded during the war on Ukraine.

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Russian sports minister Mikhail Degtyaryov posted on social media that an appeal from Russia to the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned a blanket ban imposed by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) within days of the full military invasion in February 2022. FIS renewed the ban in October.

CAS later published its ruling in another legal win for Russian and Belarusian winter sports athletes. In October, a similar appeal to CAS by the Russian luge federation and athletes ruled against a long-standing blanket ban based on their passports.

Sports bodies have excluded Russians mainly for security reasons to protect athletes and prevent protests that also could disrupt the field of play.

Still, there is little time for a three-person FIS panel to process applications from athletes to be approved with neutral status and without their national identity ahead of a Jan. 18 qualification deadline. The Milan Cortina Olympics spread across northern Italy begin on Feb. 6.

FIS runs almost half of the entire Winter Games program — 57 of 116 gold medal events.

The governing body said it “acknowledged the CAS decision” and immediately published a policy document to oversee the athlete vetting process.

Russian athletes and team officials also face challenges getting visas to enter some countries that host qualifying events such as on the World Cup circuit in Alpine, cross-country and freestyle skiing, and snowboarding.

Small Russian team expected

Degtyaryov has said he expects as few as 15 Russian athletes at the Winter Games.

That is a small fraction of the Russian team of more than 200 athletes sent to the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.

Those athletes in Beijing competing for ROC — Russian Olympic Committee, a neutral banner as punishment in the long-running scandal of state doping — won 32 medals including five gold. Five medals including three gold were won by cross-country skier Alexander Bolshunov.

A half-dozen Russians — three men, three women competing as Individual Neutral Athletes which goes by the French acronym AIN — raced in a luge test event at the Olympic track in Cortina d’Ampezzo last weekend. None finished better than 19th, but it was the first step in what will likely be a very difficult road to get to the Olympic start line.

Those Russian luge athletes did not register for this weekend’s World Cup races in Winterberg, Germany. It has been increasingly difficult for Russians to get visas since 2022 and it also is not an Olympic qualifying race.

That said, it seems likely they will try to compete at World Cup luge races in the U.S. this month — first in Park City, Utah, then in Lake Placid, New York — especially as both are Olympic qualifiers.

World Cups in cross-country and freestyle skiing until mid-January are scheduled in Canada, the U.S., Germany, Italy and Switzerland.

IOC guidance

Neutral status can be approved in most sports, following International Olympic Committee guidance, for athletes who have not publicly supported the military invasion of Ukraine and do not have ties to military or state security agencies.

FIS said it would follow that guidance and demand “strict neutrality towards the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.”

CAS said its judges gave an urgent ruling combining separate appeals that Russian and Belarusian athletes who meet eligibility standards set by FIS should be allowed to enter international events.

“Both panels (of judges) found that the FIS statutes protect individuals from discrimination and require the FIS to be politically neutral,” the Lausanne-based court said in a statement.

Some Russian and Belarusian athletes competed at the Paris Summer Games last year without their national identity of flag, anthem and team colors. Both countries were banned from team sports.

The IOC must also assess the neutral status of Russian and Belarusian athletes before inviting them to compete at the Milan Cortina Winter Games.

Two Russian figure skaters and one from Belarus were invited to the Olympics by the IOC last week.

AP Sports Writers Tim Reynolds in Miami and James Ellingworth in Duesseldorf, Germany contributed.

Tod Goldberg is the author of more than 15 books, including his Gangsterland series about a Chicago hitman who assumes a false identity as a Las Vegas rabbi. Goldberg’s latest is the crime novel, “Only Way Out,” about a crooked plot in an Oregon resort town that goes awry. As well as his writing, Goldberg founded and directs the Low Residency MFA program in Creative Writing & Writing for the Performing Arts at the University of California, Riverside. In a 2023 interview with this newspaper, Goldberg said, “In my books, there’s going to be a consequence. There’s always going to be a consequence for a bad thing someone does.” Here, he takes the Book Pages Q&A.

Q. Please tell readers about your new book, “Only Way Out.”

Like a lot of my work, it’s about bad people trying to be good, good people turned bad, and worse people caught in the middle. In this case, instead of being set primarily in the desert (though there is a section in the high desert…I can’t resist), it takes place in a dying resort town on the Oregon coast. And instead of Mafia gangsters, it involves smaller-time crooks, in this case a failed lawyer and his child-prodigy sister who plans an audacious heist, a crooked cop who stumbles on it, and an ex-con who knows too much. So, you know, a happy family story.

Q. What was it like doing a stand-alone novel after working for years on your Gangsterland books?

It was great fun. I’ve devoted the better part of the last 15 years writing about one character – Sal Cupertine, the Chicago gangster who hides out in Las Vegas as the Rabbi David Cohen – and while I enjoyed that immensely, I admit that I was getting restless to do other things. Some of that came out in my book “The Low Desert,” where I was able to expand the criminal universe I’ve been creating for most of my career in short stories, some of which took place in a version of the fictional town I’ve created for “Only Way Out.” On a craft level, it also meant I had to change the way I wrote, which was more challenging, since Sal/David’s voice is such a peculiar one that won’t work for all the stories I want to tell.  

Q. Is there a book or books you always recommend to other readers?

I’m a real evangelist for Daniel Woodrell. His best-known book, “Winter’s Bone,” is a huge favorite of mine, but really his entire catalog is amazing. 

Q. What are you reading now?

I just finished “The CIA Book Club: The Secret Mission to Win the Cold War with Forbidden Literature” by Charlie English, which has some, uhm, startling parallels to our present reality and then Susan Straight’s luminous new novel, “Sacrament.” She’s simply the best in the business. 

Q. How do you decide what to read next?

It’s hard to say – I have a lot of books I haven’t read yet, and yet I keep buying more. Often, it’s the situation that I pick up something to “flip through it,” and then five hours later, I’m still sitting on the floor, my feet asleep, reading. I did just buy a signed Donald Westlake/Richard Stark novel from about 20 years ago – “Nobody Runs Forever” – and I’m planning on diving into that to justify that princely sum I paid for the late author’s work. 

Q. Do you remember the first book that made an impact on you?

I do. “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck. That book reordered my reality at ten years old. It’s the first time I recall crying while reading, and it’s the first time I experienced violence on the page that felt like an honorable thing. 

Q. Is there a book or type of book you’re reluctant to read?

Well, I just can’t get through “Moby Dick.” I’ve tried. I have. It’s like how some people love tomatoes. I get it, they’re probably pretty good if you like them, but I don’t like the way they taste. 

Q. Can you recall a book that felt like it was written with you in mind (or conversely, one that most definitely wasn’t)?

Oh, yes. “Get Shorty” by Elmore Leonard. When I read that book, I thought: Well, this is the perfect distillation of all my interests!

Q. Do you listen to audiobooks? If so, are there any titles or narrators you’d recommend?

I listen to more audiobooks these days than I read, which has mostly to do with my need to turn my brain off every night at bedtime. Audiobooks do a wonderful job of putting me into a meditative state. I just listened to “The Confidence Game” by Maria Konnikova, which I loved. And then it’s hard to beat Colin Firth reading Graham Greene’s “The End of the Affair,” which I highly recommend if you’re feeling like you’d enjoy a long car ride with a very depressed Colin Firth.

Q. Do you have a favorite book or books?

Of course. Too many, of course. But here’s a few: “Empire Falls” by Richard Russo. “Give Us a Kiss” by Daniel Woodrell. “The Laws of Evening” by Mary Yukari Waters. “Fifth Business” by Robertson Davies. “Mecca” by Susan Straight. “Columbine” by Dave Cullen. “The Devil in the White City” by Erik Larson. “Father’s Day” by Matthew Zapruder. “Trouble Boys” by Bob Mehr. “These Women” by Ivy Pochoda. “Out of Sight” by Elmore Leonard. “Your House Will Pay” by Steph Cha.

Q. Which books are you planning to read next?

“Subject: Punk: The Photographs of Maggie St. Thomas” by Maggie St. Thomas and “Crooks” by Lou Berney are queued up on my nightstand as we speak.

 Q. Do you have a favorite character or quote from a book?

“I’m a detective and expecting me to run criminals down and then let them go free is like asking a dog to catch a rabbit and let it go. It can be done, all right, and sometimes it is done, but it’s not the natural thing.” – “The Maltese Falcon” by Dashiell Hammett 

Authors and brothers Tod and Lee Goldberg each have books coming out in early September. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Q. Is there a person who made an impact on your reading life — a teacher, a parent, a librarian or someone else?

My older brother Lee. He’s nine years older than me and when he left for college, he left me with bags of classic (and not so classic) crime novels, which essentially became my YA literature. This is why I probably knew more about hitmen than your average 6th grader. 

Q. What do you find the most appealing in a book: the plot, the language, the cover, a recommendation? Do you have any examples?

I’ll follow an interesting character into any kind of fine mess. I’m fascinated by people who make very poor decisions, or people who are pushed into a corner, or people who are pushed into a corner and then make very poor decisions. I think of a book like “The Only Good Indians” by Stephen Graham Jones, one of the scariest damn books I’ve ever read, which I could not tear myself from, just to see what horrible terrible mess was to come next. 

Q. Are you someone who must finish every book you start — or is it OK to put down the ones you don’t connect with?

I put books down all the time. This is why video games and streaming TV were created. 

Q. Is there a book that tapped into an emotion you didn’t expect?

“Five Days at Memorial” by Sheri Fink and also “Ghettoside” by Jill Leovy. Both made me question preconceived notions I had about how society does and does not work.  

Q. Do you have a favorite bookstore or bookstore experience?

My favorite bookstores’ experience of recent vintage came in 2016, the day after the election, when I found myself wandering the stacks at the late, great Sundance Books in Reno, NV, which was housed in this dying old mansion. I spent hours in the store that day, reading bits of books, going into and out of rooms, touching books, sitting quietly among printed friends, reminding myself that what we do as artists has a larger importance. 

By THALIA BEATY, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Billionaires Michael and Susan Dell pledged $6.25 billion Tuesday to provide 25 million American children under 10 an incentive to claim the new investment accounts for children created as part of President Donald Trump’s tax and spending legislation.

Michael and Susan Dell, pose for photographs Nov. 26, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

The historic gift has little precedent, with few single charitable commitments in the past 25 years exceeding $1 billion, much less multiple billions. Announced on GivingTuesday, the Dells believe it’s the largest single private commitment made to U.S. children.

Its structure is also unusual. Essentially, it builds on the “ Trump Accounts ” program, where the U.S. Department of the Treasury will deposit $1,000 into investment accounts set up by Treasury for American children born between Jan. 1, 2025 and Dec. 31, 2028. The Dells’ gift will use the “Trump Accounts” infrastructure to give $250 to each qualified child under 10.

“We believe that if every child can see a future worth saving for, this program will build something far greater than an account. It will build hope and opportunity and prosperity for generations to come,” said Michael Dell, the founder and CEO of Dell Technologies whose estimated net worth is $148 billion, according to Forbes.

Though the “Trump Accounts” became law as part of the president’s signature legislation in July, the Dells say the accounts will not launch until July 4, 2026. Michael Dell said they wanted to mark the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence.

“We want these kids to know that not only do their families care, but their communities care, their government, their country cares about them,” said Susan Dell. “And we’re all rooting for them to have a wonderful future, a bright future, and that that’s available to them.”

Under the new law, “Trump Accounts” are available to any American child under 18 with a Social Security number and their families can fund the accounts, which must be invested in an index fund that tracks the overall stock market. When the children turn 18, they can withdraw the funds to put toward their education, to buy a home or to start a business.

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The Dells will put money into the accounts of children 10 and younger who live in ZIP codes with a median family income of $150,000 or less and who won’t get the $1,000 seed money from the Treasury. The Dells hope their gift will encourage families to claim the accounts and deposit more money into it, even small amounts, so it will grow over time along with the stock market.

President Trump plans to celebrate the commitment later on Tuesday and a White House spokesperson Kush Desai said the Dell’s gift will be the first of many new pledges to fund the accounts.

“The One Big Beautiful Bill’s Trump Accounts are a revolutionary investment by the federal government into the next generation of American children,” Desai said. “It’s also President Trump’s call to action for American businesses and philanthropists to do their part, too.”

“It’s hard to give effective dollars away at scale, particularly to the country’s neediest kids in a way that you have confidence that those dollars are going to compound with the upside of the U.S. economy,” Brad Gerstner, a venture capitalist, who advocated for the passage of this legislation. “And so, this is a unique platform that’s being created by the government that I think can unlock major giving.”

Gerstner is also the founder of Invest America Charitable Foundation, which is supporting the Treasury in launching the accounts. He said the goal of the accounts is to give young people funds to jump start their lives but also to help them benefit from the growth of the U.S. economy through investing in stocks.

“Fundamentally, we need to include everybody in the upside of the American experiment. Otherwise, it won’t last. And so, at its core, we think it can re-energize people’s belief in free market, capitalist democracy,”″ Gerstner said of the accounts.

About 58% of U.S. households held stocks or bonds in 2022, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, though the wealthiest 1% owned almost half the value of stocks in that same year and the bottom 50% owned about 1% of stocks.

In 2024, about 13% of children and young people in the U.S. lived in poverty, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and experts link the high child poverty rates to the lack of social supports for new parents, like paid parental leave.

While the funds in the Trump Accounts may help young adults whose families or employers can contribute to them over time, they won’t immediately help to diminish childhood poverty. Cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and child care that were also included in the spending package are likely to reduce the support children from low-income families receive.

Ray Boshara, senior policy advisor with both the Aspen Institute and Washington University in St. Louis, said he is excited about the idea that the Trump Accounts will be able to receive contributions from the business, philanthropic and governmental sectors.

“We would like to see this idea continue and get better over time, just like any big policy,’ said Boshara, who co-edited the book “The Future of Building Wealth.” “The ACA, Social Security – they start off fairly flawed, but get much better and more progressive and inclusive over time. And that’s how we think about Trump Accounts. It’s a down payment on a big idea that deserves to be improved and there’s bipartisan interest in improving them.”

Through the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, the Dell’s have reported giving $2.9 billion since 1999, with a large focus on education.

Michael Dell said they had not initially envisioned committing so much to boost the child investment accounts, but Susan Dell said over time, they decided to increase the size of their commitment.

“We’re thrilled to be spearheading this in the philanthropy sector and are so excited because we know that more people are going to jump on board because really, we can’t think of a better idea and better way to help America’s children,” she said.

AP writer Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.