Wisconsin football recruiting 2026 Gavin Meier commits to Minnesota

Offensive tackle Gavin Meier, Wisconsin’s No. 1-ranked in-state recruit in the class of 2026, committed to the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Wednesday.

The three-star tackle chose the Gophers over the Badgers, Auburn Tigers, Indiana Hoosiers and others.

247Sports currently ranks Meier as the No. 40 offensive tackle in the class of 2026 and, as mentioned, the No. 1 player from Wisconsin. The 247Sports composite also lists him as the No. 625 overall recruit in the class.

Meier joins a Minnesota class of 2026 that currently ranks No. 25 in the nation with six players committed. At this early stage in the recruiting cycle, Wisconsin sits down at No. 61 with just two commitments (WR Tayshon Bardo, OL Benjamin Novak).

The move follows a significant trend of Wisconsin in-state players committing elsewhere. In the class of 2026, those players haven’t only left the state, they’ve pledged to some of Wisconsin’s biggest conference rivals. Meier is off to Minnesota, offensive lineman Sam Simpson (No. 3 in-state) pledged to Indiana and wide receiver Brody Schaffer (No. 4) is off to Iowa.

This follows the class of 2025 cycle, which saw Wisconsin fail to land each of the state’s top three recruits — four-star tight end James Flanigan (Notre Dame), four-star offensive lineman Owen Strebig (Notre Dame) and four-star cornerback Tre Poteat (Tennessee).

Of course, different contexts can be added to each individual recruitment. One relevant context is that 2026 has produced one of the lower-ranked collections of in-state talent in years. Meier, the state’s top-ranked recruit, carries just an ‘87.52’ rating on the 247Sports composite.

Still, any top-ranked Wisconsin recruit committing to play for P.J. Fleck and Minnesota is noteworthy. It is especially so when nearly every such player has committed elsewhere over the past several years. Whether…

Source link : https://badgerswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/badgers/recruiting/2025/03/27/wisconsin-recruiting-gavin-meier-minnesota/82686073007/

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Publish date : 2025-03-27 11:41:00

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