5 players, including son of former U linebacker, commit to Gophers
The Gophers football program on Sunday received commitments from a trio of cornerbacks, a defensive end and a wide receiver in the recruiting Class of 2022.
The flurry of action began Sunday morning when cornerbacks are Aidan Gousby of Lehigh Acres, Fla.; Rhyland Kelly, a Winnipeg, Manitoba, native who played at Clearwater (Fla.) Academy International; and Tariq Watson, from Helen Cox High School in Harvey, La., announced via Twitter that they will join the Gophers football program.
Jack Pyburn, a three-star defensive end from The Bolles School in Jacksonville, Fla., announced his decision to commit to the Gophers at around noon. That was followed by Minnetonka wide receiver Cade Conzemius, whose father, Justin, was a Gophers linebacker from 1992-95, announced he was accepting a preferred walk-on offer from Minnesota.
All five made their official visits to coach P.J. Fleck and Minnesota this weekend.
Gousby (6-2, 185 pounds), Watson (5-10, 170) and Rhyland (6-2, 185) are rated as three-star recruits by 247Sports. In the 247Sports composite rankings of major recruiting services, Watson is the 72nd-ranked cornerback nationally, Gousby is 75th and Rhyland 108th.
Watson's FBS scholarship offers also included Virginia, Middle Tennessee State, Purdue, Tulane and Washington State. He also is a track and field standout, placing second in the 200-meter dash in the Class 4A Louisiana state meet in 21.40 seconds and third in the 100 in 10.49.
Gousby also received recruiting interests from schools as a wide receiver. His offers included Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Penn State, Maryland and Purdue of the Big Ten, plus Iowa State, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Louisville and Miami (Fla.).
Rhyland originally committed to Northern Illinois in March before decommitting on June 4. His other FBS offers included Arkansas State, Kansas State, Liberty, Ohio, Purdue, Western Kentucky and Western Michigan.
Pyburn (6-3, 247) plays for a team that advanced to the Florida Class 4A championship game last fall. He also placed third at 220 pounds in the Class 1A wrestling state tournament. The 50th-ranked edge rusher nationally in the 247Sports composite ratings, Pyburn had offers from 16 FBS schools, including Georgia Tech, Navy, Middle Tennessee State, Memphis and Wake Forest.
Cade Conzemius (5-10, 165) also received interest from Iowa State as a preferred walk-on.
Sunday's commitments give the Gophers 12 scholarship players in the recruiting Class of 2022.
