As March nears and the offseason continues, P.J. Fleck and his staff are hard at work on the recruiting trail for the Minnesota Gophers. After closing out last season with a victory over Virginia Tech in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl on January 3rd, their attention has now shifted to building for the future.
In 2025, recruiting from the transfer portal has become more common than traditional high school recruiting. However, Fleck and his staff have significantly improved the Gophers’ NIL presence, allowing them to gain more talent than they lost in the portal this offseason.
Still, if Minnesota wants to compete with the top teams in the Big Ten, high school recruiting must improve. The Gophers made progress in that area on Monday when they secured a commitment from four-star cornerback Justin Hopkins, a standout junior from Nashville.
5-Star CB Justin Hopkins Commits to Minnesota
Hopkins announced his commitment Monday on social media, choosing Minnesota over several high-profile programs, including new conference rival USC, a school with a storied football history and strong NIL resources. Tennessee, known for its aggressive NIL spending, was also a finalist. Hopkins had previously received offers from Auburn, Texas, Iowa, Ole Miss, and more than 20 other FBS programs, many of them from Power Four conferences.
Still a junior, Hopkins has one more season at Ensworth High School in Nashville before joining the Gophers in Dinkytown. Last season, he made a major impact, recording 16 tackles, two interceptions (one returned for a touchdown), seven pass breakups, and two tackles for loss.
Ranked No. 303 overall in the Class of 2026 by the 247Sports composite rankings, Hopkins is listed as the No. 22 cornerback nationally and the No. 9 recruit in Tennessee. The 6-foot, 160-pound athlete also contributed as a wide receiver during his junior season, amassing over 700 receiving yards while averaging more than 16 yards per catch.
Hopkins becomes the fourth commitment in Minnesota’s 2026 high school recruiting class and the second composite four-star recruit, joining offensive tackle Andrew Trout, a top-260 prospect. For perspective, Minnesota signed just one composite four-star player in their entire 2025 class, which featured 22 total signees.
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