Gophers hockey commit Javon Moore, 18, created a poster in first grade detailing his dream to play in the NHL. 

Moore’s mother, Stephanie Harkless, said the poster was created in class where Moore learned about the past, present and future. The first grader wrote in red marker, “I’m an NHL player” with the year 2027 over it in the future column. Little did he know, 12 years after creating the art, the dream would come true.

Moore grew up in Carver, Minnesota, and his mother said his first interaction with hockey was watching the Minnesota Wild on television. But it was the Ottawa Senators who selected him as the 112th overall pick in the NHL Draft on July 29. 

“Looking back at that knowing he knew what he wanted and over the trials, tribulations, different teams, different adversities,” Harkless said. “He’s still pursuing what he knew when he was five or six years old. It’s crazy.”

Moore played hockey at Minnetonka High School and helped his team win the Minnesota State High School League championship in 2023. Before that season started, Moore committed to the Gophers.

Moore said he felt at home when he stepped on the University campus. He added the program develops great hockey players, and for him, that meant becoming a better power forward.

“It’s pretty rare in the NHL, so if you could have that kind of impact to a game or that ability as a player it’s huge and helps drive offense,” Moore said. 

Gophers head coach Bob Motzko and staff would help Moore develop into a power forward, utilizing his 6-foot-3-inch frame to impose himself on both ends of the ice.

Developing into an NHL draft pick and a Gopher hockey commit does not happen alone. Moore said one person who has been by his side the entire time is his mother.

Harkless said she grew up playing basketball and softball, but traveling for hockey is on “another level.” She said it takes a village to be a single mother raising a hockey player and her parents were supportive by helping to drive her son to the rink and attending his games.

Moore described himself as a “momma’s boy.” He said she has been his number one fan supporting him at his games.

“It’s been a fun journey with her and to share all my moments with her is special too,” Moore said.

The miles and hours dedicated to providing Moore opportunities to play and improve his game paid off when he heard his name called in the fourth round of the NHL Draft.

The Senators were excited with the pick, as one of their amateur scouts, Dan Boeser, said Moore has tremendous upside.

“I’ve seen him play a lot,” Boeser said. “He’s a really big kid and he’s still growing — we were told today he’s grown about half an inch since the combine. We didn’t think he’d be there (when we picked), we were extremely happy to get him where we did.”

Following his selection in the draft to Ottawa, Moore attended development camps with the team and other drafted players. One player from the Senators roster who welcomed Moore to the team after his selection on draft night was right-winger Drake Batherson.

Moore already started to use his platform to help the next generation of athletes before the draft. In May, he helped lead an event run by the Mosaic Hockey Collective to help the next generation of players of color in hockey by teaching them skills on the ice and being a mentor.

Before Moore wears the block M across his chest, he will head back to Sioux Falls to play another year for the Stampede in the United States Hockey League.

Harkless said her preference is to be at every game, but she will have to miss some while her son is in South Dakota for the next eight months.

“I’m going to miss a lot of games, and that’s not normal for me to not being able to be there,” Harkless said.

Harkless knows that in the end, it will “all be fine” because Moore is going to be a Gopher. She will see her son wearing the Gophers hockey sweater as she plans to become a season ticket holder when Moore is on the team.

Gophers football Head Coach P.J. Fleck summarized his team’s mindset in one word at the annual Big Ten Media Days on Thursday.

“Competition,” Fleck said, standing at the podium.

The Big Ten’s addition of UCLA, USC, Oregon and Washington for the 2024 season will call for a more competitive Gophers team compared to their 2023 season. Oregon and Washington finished last season ranked inside the top 10 teams in the country, according to the final AP Poll.

Meanwhile, the Gophers finished their conference season with a 3-6 record.

Fleck said competition is broken down into three aspects — competing within yourself, with teammates and against the teams the Gophers face this season.

“We’re on the same team,” Fleck said. “We’re not beating each other, and that’s what makes you even more competitive.”

The Gophers hope to be competitive and build an identity around consistency, something Fleck said was missing last season. His team ran the ball 62% of the time on offense having called over 500 rushing attempts.

Fleck said the Gophers did not have much of a passing game, which is “well-documented” across the state.

“When you’re going through a season, you’re listening to what your players can do,” Fleck said. “If you’re not adapting to what they’re showing you then you’re just going to continue to do the same thing and you’re not going to be very successful.”

Fleck said connections between players and coaches play into successful teams. He added relationships between players help the group compete with each other rather than against each other.

Redshirt senior Linebacker Cody Lindenberg said connections with teammates help in late-game situations and allow the Gophers to win.

“It’s looking around at each other understanding that all my brothers have put all this work in,” Lindenberg said for Spartan Media Network. “I’m not gonna be the one that’s gonna take a play off because I’m going to do it for my teammates.”

Lindenberg missed nine games last year due to a leg injury, but in the four games he played, he accumulated 31 tackles and forced a fumble. Lindenberg said he learned how to coach the younger linebackers and his injury allowed them to get gameday reps.

The Gophers looked to find a leader on the offensive side of the ball this offseason by adding a new quarterback from the transfer portal. New Hampshire transfer Max Brosmer ended up being the right fit.

Fleck said Brosmer is a “curious leader” who can be a proverbial coach on the field.

On the Go Gopher Podcast hosted by Mike Grimm on July 25, Brosmer said college athletes will improve their game from their freshman to senior year through experience, but what should improve for a quarterback is their leadership.

“I started my second game as a freshman and it was very, very challenging,” Brosmer said. “I was talented enough to play as a freshman, but leadership-wise I had no idea how to lead seniors in a room.”

Brosmer said football is like a “melting pot” with people from different backgrounds. Learning how to lead those people on a daily basis is a new challenge each day heading into the upcoming season. 

The Gophers’ first game of the 2024 season is just over a month away on Aug. 29 against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Huntington Bank Stadium.

The University of Minnesota’s Wren Warne-Jacobsen topped the podium for the second straight year at the U.S. Figure Skating Collegiate Championships in Richfield on Saturday.

Warne-Jacobsen’s preparation to compete against 26 other skaters from 22 universities took place 20 miles southwest of the competition rink in the Shakopee Ice Arena.

Warne-Jacobsen competed for the University of Minnesota in her home state where she scored a 54.00 on her short program and attained the top overall tally in her free skate (120.52). Watching her from off the ice were her coaches Lorie Charbonneau, Chris Conte and Kate Charbonneau Shurts from the Go4Gold Skating Academy.

Warne-Jacobsen’s first coach, her mother Debbie Warne-Jacobsen, used to skate competitively until she was 19 years old. Wren Warne-Jacobsen credits her mother for helping her find her passion on the ice. 

Wren Warne-Jacobsen brought her mother back to the sport where she is now a full-time figure skating coach.

It did not take long for Debbie Warne-Jacobsen to discover her daughter’s passion. When an ice storm scrapped any hope Wren Warne-Jacobsen had of skating in her first competition, her mother said Wren “burst into tears.”

“She was devastated that she couldn’t do the competition,” Debbie Warne-Jacobsen said. “So, me being the resourceful figure skating parent, I got online and found another competition for her right away.”

Debbie Warne-Jacobsen said her daughter won both of her events at her first competition in Fergus Falls. 

Wren Warne-Jacobsen’s love for the sport grew on her own time and skating became just plain fun for her. 

“I started to skate to music I liked,” Wren Warne-Jacobsen said. “One of my favorite things to do was put on a song and make up choreography and dance around on the ice.”

The fun turned to passion as Wren Warne-Jacobsen skated her way to nine Minnesota State titles. 

Now a college athlete, Wren Warne-Jacobsen continued to do what she did her entire career on the ice — win.

Wren Warne-Jacobsen won her first U.S. Figure Skating Collegiate Championship last year after completing her freshman year at the University. She returned to the Collegiate Championships on Friday to defend her title.

Coach Lorie Charbonneau said Wren Warne-Jacobsen does not need to raise the intensity level at collegiate championships because it will already be there competing in Minnesota.

“Wren loves performing in Minnesota,” Lorie Charbonneau said. “She’s been one of the top skaters in Minnesota for a long time.”

The Collegiate Championship started with the skaters short program, meaning Wren Warne-Jacobsen would skate to Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?”

Choreographer Kate Charbonneau Shurts said the song was symbolic for Wren Warne-Jacobsen, who feels as though she was made for figure skating.

“Wren really feels the lyrics of the song relating to her,” Charbonneau Shurts said. “I think you can see that when she skates, the way that she relates to the music.”

Charbonneau Shurts said the process of perfecting a short program is finding a song followed by hours of executing the program and finding areas to improve.

The Richfield Ice Arena truly was home ice advantage for Wren Warne-Jacobsen, who received cheers of support when her name was introduced at the beginning of the short program.

“The crowd was so supportive, so that was fun to get out there and feel the excitement from my team and friends,” Wren Warne-Jacobsen said. “I’ll keep working to clean up any mistakes for the free skate tomorrow, but overall I felt really good about it.”

The win marks the end of one competition and the beginning of another for Wren Warne-Jacobsen, who will travel to Anaheim, California, for the Glacier Open beginning July 24. The competition will give Wren Warne-Jacobsen the chance to qualify for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas.

Corrections: A previous version of this article stated that Wren Warne-Jacobsen learned to skate at the Shakopee Ice Arena. She did not. A previous version of this article named Katie Charbonneau Shurts as just Katie Charbonneau, this has been updated.

Former Iowa standout Caitlin Clark returned to the same arena where she watched her first WNBA game, only this time she was on the court, not in the stands.

Clark returned to the Target Center Sunday as a professional basketball player after she won the Big Ten Tournament with the Iowa Hawkeyes in March. She finished with 34 points, 12 assists and 7 rebounds, along with the game-sealing steal in overtime against Nebraska.

Clark reminisced pregame about the first WNBA game she attended when she was twelve years old between the Minnesota Lynx and the Seattle Storm.

“My dad called the ticket office to get tickets to the game because we drove up here and didn’t have any and the guy at the ticketing office said, ‘Does she want to come and watch the shootaround?’” Clark said. “Lindsay Whalen came over, Seimone Augustus came over. I remember meeting them.”

Clark won seven straight games at Target Center including the last two Big Ten Tournaments and the Fever win on Sunday. She said it is the Minnesota crowd that gets her going.

“Target Center is awesome,” Clark said. “I just remember when I was in college people were lined up overnight to try and get in the door. This city supports women’s basketball.”

When it came time for tip-off, the Lynx tradition of fans standing until the team’s first basket ended quickly when Clark turned over the ball in the first play of the game and Lynx forward Alanna Smith scored. 

Smith was the first player of either team to reach double figures, finishing the first quarter with 13 points and going 4-for-6 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.

Clark hit her first 3-pointer of the game with just over three minutes left in the first half. She struggled to take care of the ball in the first half and finished with four turnovers at halftime.

The matchup was tight though, with the teams tied at 38. Fever forward Aliyah Boston led her team in points and Smith did the same for the Lynx. Boston finished the first half with a double-double in points and rebounds, whereas Smith tallied 15 points and 6 rebounds.

The Lynx started the second half like the first, with a bucket in 20 seconds, this time a shot from Courtney Williams giving her six points on the day.

The Lynx defense stifled Clark in the third quarter, holding her scoreless and building a seven-point lead of their own, 60-53 Minnesota.

Clark opened the fourth quarter with a left-wing 3-pointer drawn up by Fever head coach Christie Sides. Clark’s shot was immediately answered on the other end by Bridget Carleton.

“Christie diagramed a great play to start the fourth quarter and got me a great clean look,” Clark said. “Honestly, that was the perfect start for us, we cut it to three points and then came down and got a stop.”

The floodgates opened for both teams from beyond the arc as they combined for four 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the final frame. A 3-pointer from Fever forward Katie Lou Samuelson tied the game at 63 with eight minutes left.

Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell started to put down buckets when she knocked down a three on the other end, giving her 17 points and reclaiming the lead for the Fever. Mitchell said she tries to stay in rhythm depending on the game’s flow and what the team needs.

Both teams relied on their strengths down the stretch. For the Fever, it was ball movement, leading to easy buckets at the rim and for the Lynx, driving to the hoop and passing to shooters around the arc.

Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve credited the Fever’s defense for limiting what they could do offensively.

“They were up in our locations to pass, but it also felt like we were sticky at times,” Reeve said. “Our offense is predicated on that movement inside and out, seek the paint and make plays.”

The Fever put a bow on the 81-74 victory as Clark was fouled with 10 seconds left, sending her to the free-throw line. A mass of Fever faithful erupted inside Target Center.

Gophers football is focused on developing new players within their program, starting with leaders like the team’s new quarterback Max Brosmer, among others.  

Brosmer, a graduate transfer from New Hampshire, said Gophers fans will see a detail-oriented offense that scores points. The team is entering 2024 after finishing last year’s regular season with a 5-7 record. Minnesota managed to walk away from the postseason with a 30-24 victory over Bowling Green in the Quick Lane Bowl.

“I’m just excited to number one, take it one play at a time,” Brosmer said. “I think that’s kind of my game, it’s meticulous and doing my best to keep my offense on track and on schedule.”

The last time the Gophers finished a regular season with five wins was Head Coach P.J. Fleck’s first season in 2017.

Brosmer said he and Offensive Coordinator Greg Harbaugh Jr. became “extremely close” over the past five months. The pair connected on a personal level, which Brosmer translates to the football field where Harbaugh will be in his ear through the helmet communication rule implemented this upcoming season.

Graduate Quinn Carroll said the offensive line is building a more dominant identity with a “heck of a backfield.” He complimented Brosmer’s abilities as a quarterback, saying Brosmer can “do it all.”

The Gophers finished last season ranked 122 out of 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in total offense, according to the NCAA. Minnesota’s passing attack forced the team to rely on its running backs.

Former Gopher Athan Kaliakmanis, who transferred to Rutgers during the offseason, only surpassed 200 or more passing yards twice for Minnesota.

Carroll said he has been taking reps mostly at guard this offseason after starting all 26 games the last two seasons at right tackle. Even with both starting guards from last season returning, Martes Lewis and Tyler Cooper, the offensive line appears to be shuffled.

The Gophers added Offensive Tackle Aluma Nkele, who played 10 games at tackle for UTEP through the transfer portal. Nkele and redshirt freshman Phillip Daniels, along with others, will compete for the tackle position across the line from Aireontae Ersery.

When Carroll was asked about the Gophers being projected to win 5.5 games by sportsbooks like FanDuel, he said he does not read into that stuff, and that sentiment is echoed through the team.

“I only believe what we believe in as a team,” Carroll said. “We’re ready to go out and compete every single week. We want to win every single game, and we shouldn’t be thinking anything short of that.”

After Defensive Coordinator Joe Rossi left to take the same position at Michigan State, Fleck hired former Rutgers Linebackers Coach Corey Hetherman as his new defensive coordinator.

Fifth-year Defensive Lineman Danny Striggow said “violence” is what Hetherman’s defense will hang its hat on.

“We really talked about three things all offseason: excitement, swarm and violence,” Striggow said. “I think that’s going to be a big calling card of the defense.”

The Gophers return six defensive linemen who saw significant playing time last season. Minnesota added LSU transfer Jaxon Howard, Minnesota’s No. 1 ranked player for the class of 2023, to its defensive line.

Redshirt senior Jah Joyner, who led the team in sacks last season with 7.5, said the defensive line will take a new approach this season.

“In simple forms, (Hetherman) just wants us to get vertical, just be violent and attack upfield,” Joyner said. “That’s one of the biggest reasons why I came back, him changing up the defense for the D-line.”

Joyner said he plans to move around the defensive line more this year than years prior. His goal is to be a “double-digit sack guy” this season.

The Gophers’ season opener at Huntington Bank Stadium against North Carolina is a month and a half away, but Brosmer said the Gophers are taking a next-day mindset.

“Attack today and then attack the next day, and when you’re doing that, it’s really hard to focus on the games that are coming ahead,” Brosmer said. “Our next goal is to attack fall camp. We’re going to finish summer strong and attack fall camp.”

The foundational players of the Gopher women’s basketball team will return next season as they hope to earn their first NCAA tournament berth since 2018. 

Mara Braun, Mallory Heyer and former Minnesota Daily photographer Amaya Battle were part of Minnesota’s highest-ranked recruiting class. The three looked to change the program’s trajectory while playing for former head coach Lindsey Whalen.

Niamya Holloway was the fourth recruit from the 2022 class but missed her freshman season after she tore her ACL in the summer leading up to it.

Through a coaching change and the development of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), the group stuck together and built on the foundation they laid. 

In the NIL era, other programs can contact players about transferring schools for monetary purposes. Gophers head coach Dawn Plitzuweit said Braun was someone who was “contacted and reached out to quite a bit,” but Plitzuweit praised her maturity, and the star guard decided to stay in Minnesota.

Braun was the Gopher’s leading scorer last season and said the team’s expectations are similar to those they set at the start of last season.

“We really wanted to get to the (NCAA) Tournament,” Braun said. “This year, that’s just a big goal for us that we really, really want to accomplish.”

Braun said the 2022 class came in wanting to ensure local players stayed in Minnesota.

“To have all these people coming back and realizing that maybe they shouldn’t have left in the first place is kind of fun for us,” Braun said

The Gophers added former four-star recruit Taylor Woodson out of Minnetonka through the transfer portal. Woodson played with Battle at Hopkins High School and on the AAU circuit with North Tartan. 

Minnesota also added former Nebraska three-star center Annika Stewart, who played with Braun and sophomore Brynn Senden at Wayzata High School.

With new talents and veteran players getting more experienced, Plitzuweit looks to maximize her team’s potential. She said their summer goals involve honing in on offensive and defensive efficiency, ball-handling and passing.

Plitzuweit said improving in these areas will allow the team to play faster and be more versatile.

The Gophers want to build on their postseason run from last season in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament. During that run, Plitzuweit said she added MC Hammer’s song “Gaining Momentum” to the playlist to convey a message to the team.

“That stretch allowed us as players to gain momentum (and) as a program,” Plitzuweit said. “Playing in different environments, very challenging environments was something that’s really good for us.”

The Gophers finished their season with a 20-16 overall record, 5-13 in the Big Ten, in Plitzuweit’s first season at the helm. It was the first time the Gophers won 20 or more games in a season since 2018-19.

The group is already feeling more comfortable and confident in the Plitzuweit system. Battle said the returning players understand Plitzuweit’s expectations for practices.

“We can help the new people coming in and the freshman coming in and lead them through that,” Battle said. “We got that year behind, we had our learning experience, so it will help us a lot.”

The Gophers will return its top five players in minutes, points and rebounds from last season. 

The team is eager to use its experience from last season to finish next season with a better conference record.

Two Minnesotans, Mallory Weggemann and Summer Schmit, earned a spot on the U.S. Paralympic swimming team after qualifying in Minneapolis.

Weggemann earned her fourth Olympic berth after she earned five Paralympic medals, three of which were gold. Schmit, a junior at the University of Minnesota, completed the trials at her home pool and earned a trip to her second Paralympic games.

The pair will join 21 women and 12 men on Team USA at the 2024 Paralympic Games in August.

Schmit was born with congenital disarticulation of the right wrist and is missing her right hand. She competes with an S9 classification which, according to Paralympic classification, is for athletes with a physical impairment. 

The “S” stands for swimming and the greater the number, the less severe the athlete’s limitations.

Schmit swam in the 100-meter breaststroke, 200-meter individual medley and 400-meter freestyle. The Stillwater swimmer started the competition with the 100-meter breaststroke on Thursday before jumping to the 400-meter freestyle on Friday.

Schmit said she felt “smooth” in the pool, navigating the two races and finishing first in her first two competitions. She said having the meet on her home turf was incredible and gave her the advantage of feeling comfortable in the water.

“I feel so lucky that the stars kind of aligned for me,” Schmit said. “Not many people can say that the biggest meet of life was at their home pool that they practice in every day.”

Schmit qualified in all three events, finishing first in the 100-meter breaststroke and 400-meter freestyle and second in the 200-meter individual medley in her classifications.

Weggemann, an Eagan-based swimmer, qualified for her fourth Paralympic games on Sunday. 

Weggemann participated in five events: the 100-meter breaststroke, the 50-meter butterfly, the 100-meter freestyle, the 200-meter individual medley and the 50-meter freestyle.

She competes within the classification S6, which means coordination is moderately affected on one side, highly affected in the lower trunk and legs, those with short stature or the absence of limbs.

Over the three days of the trials, she posted qualifying times for all five of her events.

Weggemann became a mother 15 months ago. She quickly had to get into shape to compete.

But even with the intensified workout routine, Weggemann said she never took time off between competing in her last Paralympics in 2021 to the 2024 United States Paralympic Trials.

“It was Tokyo straight into an infertility journey, straight into pregnancy, all of which I competed through and then back as a mom,” Weggemann said. “There was that point in time where it felt hard. It felt like, frankly, the professional sports world isn’t made for moms.”

Weggemann said there are fierce women paving the pathway, demonstrating that it is possible to compete at the highest level after becoming a mom.

Weggemann will not only be training to compete in the Paralympics, but she will also be the first Paralympian to host NBC’s coverage of the Olympics.

Another name to keep an eye on for Team USA during this year’s Paralympics is Elizabeth Marks. The now three-time Paralympian will look to add to her five Paralympic medals, including gold at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro and 2020 Tokyo Games.

She tied her own World Record at the trials in the 100-meter backstroke in her S6 classification.

Marks said the people are what make the competition.

“Trials are a special time of the year for everyone and getting to share that with people that I’ve been training with the last couple of years has been amazing,” Marks said. “My husband is my coach, so I feel I’m indebted to all of the time he spends on my career, so we’re just trying our best to celebrate all that work.”

The swimming portion of this year’s Paralympics begins Aug. 29.

Finishing as the top all-around gymnast on Saturday was not enough for former Gopher Shane Wiskus to compete on Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Wiskus will still travel to Paris as an alternate gymnast along with Khoi Young. It will be Wiskus’s second trip to the international competition.

Wiskus compiled an 85.350 all-around score on Saturday totaling 169.650 over the two days of the U.S. Gymnastics Olympic Team Trials. The five Olympians headed to Paris to compete in July are Asher Hong, Stephen Nedoroscik, Paul Juda, Brody Malone and Fred Richard.

Before the trials at Target Center, Wiskus said he hoped the crowd would energize him and the gymnasts. He said having fun produces the best results for him during competitions and the love he received from the Minnesota crowd on day one helped his performance.

“The second I stepped out on that field and heard the Minnesota love and the fans screaming for me, I mean, it was an incredible experience and a memory I’ll have forever,” Wiskus said.

Wiskus finished with the best overall floor routine score (28.950) over the two days and the second-best overall high bar score (27.450). The 25-year-old said he was thankful for the chance to compete in his home state in what he believed could be the last meet of his life. Among the Minnesota crowd were Wiskus’s former Gopher teammates.

The former teammates sat in the last few rows of section 113 at the Target Center wearing white t-shirts with “Team Wiskus” emblazoned on the back. Occasionally, they showcased their school spirit by standing up and singing the “Minnesota Rouser.” 

“Having my team here means the world,” Wiskus said. “I had a lot of family and friends out there, and I just hope I made them proud. Hell of a ride.”

If the U.S. Olympic Trials marked the end of Wiskus’s career, he would finish it at the Olympics after a storied collegiate career where he won three national championships. 

Surveying the field

After finishing his sophomore year at the University of Michigan, Richard automatically qualified for the Olympic team, topping the all-around leaderboard and placing in the top three in three events.

After nailing his final vault and being named an Olympian for the first time, Richard said he felt hungry, literally, but complimented that feeling with a side of accomplishment.

“You just feel satisfied, electric like the job is done, and now your life is changing, something I’ve never done before,” Richard said. “The Olympics, it’s like a new mountain in my life, and I’m ready to climb it.”

Richard leads a young team of gymnasts representing the United States in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Malone was the heavy favorite to lead the field heading into the competition but is coming off a right knee injury he suffered in March 2023 that took three surgeries to fully recuperate.

Malone said he leaned on his faith, team and medical staff to help get him back to this point.

“With everything that I’ve gone through with my leg, it’s just been a battle to get back to where I’m at,” Malone said.

Persevering through injury and recovery, Malone finished second overall in the all-around, just two-tenths of a point behind Richard.

Team USA’s High-Performance Director, Brett McClure, said this is a great team with individual and team medalling opportunities.

“Based on the results from two competitions, these are the guys that were the best, absolutely for this process, and that’s what we need,” McClure said.

The men’s artistic gymnastics portion of the Paris Olympics begins July 7 at Bercy Arena.

Gophers football held its annual Summer Splash on the weekends of June 9 and 16 where they officially hosted high school recruits from across the country.

Minnesota ended its Summer Splash with 12 new Gophers from the class of 2025. The list includes Abu Tarawallie, the state’s number two recruit in the 2025 class, and former Toledo commit Bradley Martino, among others.

The Gophers also added David Amaliri to their 2024 roster during Summer Splash. Amaliri attended Clearwater Academy International in Florida, where current Gophers safety Rhyland Kelly played in high school.

Amaliri said he could play at the next level, but few schools were interested in him before attending offseason camps.

“I just had to show it,” Amaliri said. “I just spent time grinding, trying to get ready for camps. When camps came around, it all paid off.”

Gophers defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman first saw Amaliri at the Lindenwood Mega Camp and extended him an offer on June 1. That same day, Amaliri received offers from North Dakota State, North Dakota and Kent State.

Offensive lineman Nelson McGuire committed to the Gophers on June 9 but de-committed two weeks later after official visits to Arkansas and Texas Tech.

The trenches were bolstered during Summer Splash as the Gophers added six linemen, five of them on the ball’s offensive side, including Mark Handy. Handy, a wrestling state champion from New Mexico, said he learned more about the culture of playing at a Big Ten school after his official visit with the Gophers.

Handy added it was one of his more unofficial visits as he spent time on Minnesota’s lakes with other players.

“I really felt a good connection with all the staff and the players,” Handy said. “My family liked it too.”

Handy said he started playing football in ninth grade and drew inspiration from his teammates at La Cueva High School and Indianapolis Colts’ guard Quenton Nelson.

2025 running back Grant Washington attended Minnesota’s first camp of the summer and received his first Power Four offer. Washington previously committed to Central Michigan. He said he worked to get an opportunity at a Power Four school but needed help along the way.

“We didn’t really know if it was going to happen or not,” Washington said. “I just felt blessed that it happened, and God put me in that situation.”

The Washington family is no stranger to the Big Ten, as his father, Gary Washington, played for Nebraska. 

Gary Washington coached his son throughout middle school. Grant Washington said his father’s help was one of the reasons for his success.

The Gophers 2025 graduating class grew over the past two weeks, with Minnesota now having 22 commits. In terms of volume, this is the Gophers’ largest recruiting class since 2020.

According to 247 Sports, the Gophers 2025 class is ranked No. 24 in the country. If all goes as planned, P.J. Fleck will have recruited his best class as the Gophers’ head coach.

Gophers 2025 Verbal Commits

Abu Tarawallie (Osseo, Minnesota) – DL

Bradley Martino (Naples, Florida) – ATH

Daniel Shipp (Corona, California) – OL

David Amaliri (Oakdale, Connecticut) – LB

Jayquan Stubbs (Cleveland, Ohio) – DL

Legend Lyons (Covina, California) – WR

Mark Handy (Albuquerque, New Mexico) – OL

Naiim Parrish (Oradell, New Jersey) – CB

Nathan Cleveland (Hoffman Estates, Illinois) – LB

Nick Spence (Peoria, Illinois) – OL

Shane Marshall Ocilla, Georgia) – RB

Zac Stascausky (Portland, Oregon) – OL

ANDREW CORNELIUS: Hello, and welcome to The Gold Standard! I am Andrew Cornelius with The Minnesota Daily, and I am bringing you a weekly update on everything Minnesota sports. Thank you for joining us on our very first episode of this podcast. 

We’ll get you set with the Gopher football team. Daniel Shipp Jr., Mark Handy, Jaquan Stubbs and David Amaliri are the four that committed earlier this morning here in Minneapolis at an event called the Summer Splash that the Gophers host annually here in Dinkytown, looking to add new recruits. This is one of their best classes under PJ Fleck, and it’s coming off one of their tougher seasons.

They finished six and seven last season, finishing with a bold win over Bowling Green in the Quick Lane Bowl. But the conference only gets tougher with the addition of four new teams. Oregon, Washington, UCLA and USC enter the conference with the realignment across the country, including teams heading to the ACC and SCC from the Big 12 and the no longer established conference of the Pac 12. And Minnesota themselves will travel to California and play in the historic Rose Bowl Stadium against UCLA as well as host the USC Trojans. 

Moving on to Gophers Golf, Isabella McCauley and Ben Warian represented the University of Minnesota at the NCAA Championships this past month. Warian wrapped up his final season as a Gopher, setting a new single season scoring record, breaking his one from last year, which was 70.69, now 70.35. That’s an all time record in Gophers history! And he got his first individual win that he was hoping for throughout his career at the Highland Meadows Intercollegiate Tournament. Head coach Justin Smith praised Warian for his historic performance. He was minus 14 over the first 36 holes.

He said, “That is not a level of golf many have seen in this program’s history.” Warian also competed in the Stanford Regional, where he entered the final day in 7th place and shot a 65 to tie for 2nd, and qualify for the NCAA Championship. Sophomore superstar Isabella McCauley also competed in the national championship for the second time in as many years and was named an All American which, to her, was not even attainable heading into college and she said, “It was truly a dream come true.”

Gopher basketball is back in action over the summer as both teams head in for summer practices in Dinkytown. Champ Howard will be writing up a story for the press conference tomorrow that Ben Johnson and student athletes will be speaking at. Over the off season, the men’s basketball team lost Elijah Hawkins, Brayden Carrington, Joshua Ola Joseph, Pharrell Payne, and Cam Christie.

They added Frank Mitchell, Trey Edmonds, Caleb Williams, Femi Odukale, and Lusai Patterson. Gopher fans will have a better understanding of what this team will look like for the future after Champ’s story later this week

For the baseball team, John Anderson, longtime head coach, retires after 43 seasons at the helm, 49 total throughout his playing and coaching career. And Ty McDevitt, his longtime assistant and pitching coach, is named the new head coach of Gopher Baseball. Anderson amassed 11 regular season Big Ten titles and 10 post season titles for the Gophers.

And he also produced 36 consecutive seasons with an MLB draft pick dating back to 1988. Coach McDevitt looks to carry that torch and continue the professional pipeline that Anderson has created while also adapting and changing the style of baseball the Gophers play. For Gopher baseball, Tristan Ellis, a junior infielder, transferred to Milwaukee, moving back to his home state of Wisconsin.

Easton Fritcher entered the transfer portal yesterday, still undecided on where he will go, and Brady Council, who led the Gophers in nearly every offensive statistic, entered the transfer portal just a few weeks ago. So there’s a lot of new names and new faces that the Gophers will add through freshmen, but also will have to replace some key figures in their lineup.

The other diamond sport, Gophers softball, finished 28-25, 13-10 in the Big Ten, and they lost six seniors. Including Jacie Hamrick and Bri Enter who led the pitching staff and innings pitched, and Morgan DeBord and Sidney Strelow, who are two of the top three hitters on the Gophers team. For Morgan DeBord, she started her pro career in the AU Pro softball league after completing her five seasons of college softball and for the Gophers, Addison Leshper entered the transfer portal after the season concluded. 

This episode was written by Andrew Cornelius and produced by Kaylie Sirovy. Thank you for listening to our inaugural episode of The Gold Standard.

And feel free to send a message to our email box at podcast@mndaily.com with any questions, comments or concerns. This episode was recorded on Sunday, June 16, so Happy Father’s Day to my dad and all the fathers out there! I’m Andrew Cornelius, and this has been The Gold Standard.