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University of Minnesota Athletics
Golden Gophers Announce 2009 Recruiting Class
2/4/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
University of Minnesota head football coach Tim Brewster announced the signing of 20 student-athletes who will be joining the Golden Gopher football program.
Eighteen members of Minnesota’s 2009 recruiting class are current high school seniors, while two join the Gophers from the junior college ranks.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with the newest group of Golden Gophers,” Brewster said. “I think it’s an outstanding group of players who are going to help us as we move forward in our quest to win a championship here at Minnesota.”
Six of the high school seniors joining the Gopher program hail from the state of Minnesota. All six were ranked among the top eight players in the state.
“Signing the number of Minnesota kids that we did is a huge thing for us,” Brewster said. “I truly believe – and I stated this from day one – the core and the fiber of our football team must be representative of the state of Minnesota. This year is very exciting, with the number of kids in Minnesota deciding to stay home and play in TCF Bank Stadium. They are buying into our vision and our dream of bringing a championship to the people of Minnesota. I think that’s probably the most exciting thing for me about this recruiting class.”
All but one of the student-athletes who signed national letters of intent with Minnesota Wednesday were ranked among the top 100 players in the nation at their position. This year’s class is much smaller than last year’s total of 31 signees. But Brewster said the emphasis wasn’t on quantity this year.
“This year’s class is smaller, but the quality of the class is outstanding,” Brewster said. “We’re in a position now where we’re building depth and that’s a very positive thing for our program. We won’t be asking as many of these kids to step in and play and make an immediate impact as freshmen, although some of them will do just that.”
A total of 10 states were represented in the 2009 Gopher class. Brewster said his staff deserves the credit for casting a wide net and bringing good football players from all over the country to the U.
“Nationally, there is a great vibe about the University of Minnesota football program,” Brewster said. “I give a great deal of credit to our staff. Our staff is absolutely tireless, relentless in the way we work recruiting. It has paid off in huge dividends.”
The 2009 Minnesota recruiting class is also well-balanced. Ten of the signees are projected to play on the offensive side of the ball, while eight are projected for the defense. One of the new Gophers is listed exclusively in the athlete category, while one is a specialist.
“We identified some areas where we needed to bring guys in and we were able to go get the kids,” Brewster said. “Offensive line was an area this year where we felt like we needed to bring in at least four guys. That was a real area we wanted to address. Then, we also really wanted to continue to build our team defensively. It all starts with defense. It all starts with our ability to stop people on the defensive end. We made great strides on defense last year. We want to play championship-caliber defense and I think the kids that we’ve recruited the last two years are going to help us be able to play that kind of defense.”
| Golden Gopher Football Class of 2009 | |||||
| Name | | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Hometown/Previous School |
| Moses Alipate | Video | QB | 6-5 | 230 | Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson HS |
| Bryant Allen | Video | ATH | 6-0 | 160 | Maplewood, Mo. / Maplewood-Richmond Heights HS |
| Josh Campion | Video | OL | 6-5 | 265 | Fergus Falls, Minn.. / Fergus Falls HS |
| Hayo Carpenter | Video | WR | 5-11 | 185 | Lawndale, Calif. / College of the Canyons |
| Michael Carter | Video | CB | 5-11 | 154 | Pompano Beach, Fla. / Ely HS |
| Matt Garin | Video | DE | 6-4 | 220 | Apple Valley, Minn. / Eastview |
| Kendall Gregory-McGhee | Video | DE | 6-5 | 235 | Aurora, Colo. / Cherokee Trail HS |
| Ra'Shede Hageman | Video | TE | 6-6 | 235 | Minneapolis, Minn. / Washburn HS |
| Eric Jacques | Video | DL | 6-2 | 285 | Pompano Beach, Fla. / Ely HS |
| Victor Keise III | Video | WR | 6-0 | 160 | Coral Springs, Fla. / North Broward Prep |
| Kerry Lewis | Video | S | 5-9 | 178 | Lancaster, Texas / Lancaster HS |
| Hasan Lipscomb | Video | RB | 5-11 | 201 | Houston, Texas / Cypress Ridge HS |
| Brooks Michel | Video | OT | 6-7 | 280 | Carmel, Ind. / Carmel HS |
| Ed Olson | Video | OL | 6-7 | 285 | Mahtomedi, Minn. / Mahtomedi HS |
| Dan Orseske | Video | P | 6-3 | 195 | Chicago, Ill. / Brother Rice HS |
| Nick Rengel | Video | ATH | 6-3 | 225 | Sartell, Minn. / Sartell HS |
| Joey Searcy | Video | DT | 6-0 | 285 | Grand Prairie, Texas / S. Grand Prairie HS |
| Brent Singleton | Video | LB | 6-1 | 205 | Plantation, Fla. / American Heritage HS |
| Kenny Watkins II | Video | DB | 6-0 | 185 | Detroit, Mich. / Brother Rice HS |
| Jeff Wills | Video | OT | 6-7 | 375 | Laurelton, N.Y. / Lackawanna College |
