Minnesota Gophers National Signing Day 2017 Central

Happy National Signing Day!

The biggest day of the recruiting year is here. The faxes are fired up, Twitter is ready to rumble with rumors and breaking news. For the Gophers, it’s the dawn of the P.J. Fleck era. While this isn’t Fleck’s true “first class” he has still put his stamp on it in a short time.

The class that will sign today is considerably different than the one we were expecting to see barely a month ago prior to the firing of Tracy Claeys. Nearly all of the non-Minnesota recruits Claeys and his staff had received verbal commits from have moved on. In the meantime, the recruits Fleck has added have bumped the class’ ranking nearly 20 spots in the 247 Composite Team rankings.

While this National Signing Day is expected to be a tame one for Minnesota, that doesn’t mean there won’t be plenty going on. So consider this post your home for all things Gophers this NSD and check back frequently for updates, news, and fresh links. In addition to the live coverage, please consider this your OPEN THREAD to talk about everything NSD in the comments!

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We’ve broken this Signing Day Cental post into 2 sections below:

• NSD News: This is where we’ll continuously put any big news, rumors, or important musings. Just like the Big Board, this will be updated all day and will include links to new TDG posts about National Signing Day topics.
• Big Board: This section shows which verbal commits have already signed, who we’re still waiting on, and notes any who may have signed somewhere besides Minnesota. We’ll be keeping it up to date all day and you’ll be able to find links to our “commitment capsules” for each signee.

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If work is keeping you from staying glued to TDG today be sure to follow us on Twitter or our Facebook page. When a story goes on the site it’ll be tweeted out and we’ll get it on Facebook too. NOTE: given how crazy NSD can get, it may be easier to find new stories on our FB page.

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NSD News

News is in reverse chronological order. All times listed below are CT.

• 6:00 PM: Time to relax friends! We’ve put out 32 NSD posts in just over 36 hours, so there is plenty of #content to keep you reading for a while. In the meantime, enjoy your Wednesday night!
• 5:45 PM: The TDG staff goes in depth about what they like and dislike about the 2017 recruiting class.
• 12:00 PM: Here is how the 2017 recruiting class look mapped and broken down in our TDG Recruiting Dashboard.
• 11:35 AM: What grade would you give the 2017 recruiting class?
• 10:35 AM: Let’s Stroll Through Twitterland to learn a little more about the 2017 recruiting class.
• 10:00 AM: Here are the details for all of Coach Fleck’s media appearances today.
• 9:10 AM: Douglas signs! Unless there is some unexpected drama with Marsette coming back to the fold, Minnesota is likely done for the day.
• 9:05 AM: Once Douglas signs it looks like the balloons will drop.
• 8:40 AM: Penn State is having some issues.

Rodney Smith is awesome, but he’s a Gopher. Get it straight Penn State.

• 8:35 AM: Tyrone Chambers has officially signed with Toledo. Also, it sounds like Ihmir Marsette may be announcing a final decision at 12:30, with Iowa and Rutgers in the running along with Minnesota.
• 8:30 AM: Eric Abojei may be another academic casualty. Something to watch as the day continues.
• 8:15 AM: THERE IS A GONG IN THE MINNESOTA COACHES WAR ROOM. It is as amazing as you’d hope.
• 7:35 AM: We’re down to the last 6 LOI’s, barring any signing day surprises.
• 7:00 AM: Time for the next wave of LOI’s!
• 6:45 AM: It continues to look like Tyrone Chambers and Ihmir Marsette are not going to end up at Minnesota. Chambers appears to be an academic casualty and Marsette may be following Creamer to Iowa.
• 6:00 AM: IT’S TIME! Expect a bunch of early letters of intent to get announced.
• 5:30 AM: Almost time for the faxes to roll in!

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Big Board

Signed with Minnesota

• Tanner Morgan - QB
• Trenton Guthrie - LB
• Neil McLaurin - QB
• Jacob Paulson - TE
• Nate Umlor - TE
• Esezi Otomewo - DL
• Kyle Sassack - OL
• Justus Harris - DB
• Malcolm Robinson - DL
• Mohamed Ibrahim - RB
• John Schmitz - OL
• Chris Autman-Bell - WR
• Nathan Bursch - TE
• Kendarian Handy-Holly - DB
• Grant Ryerse - K
• Austin Schirck - DL
• Dominik London - RB
• Rey Estes - ATH
• Blaise Andries - OL
• Harrison Van Dyne - WR
• Adam Beck - DB
• Royal Silver - DL
• Noah Hickcox - DL
• Boye Mafe - DL
• Demetrius Douglas - DB

Waiting for LOI

• None

In limbo

• Eric Abojei - OL - Has not yet qualified academically for Minnesota

Signed elsewhere

• Tyrone Chambers - DT - TOLEDO
• Ihmir Marsette - CB - IOWA