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4-star CB, Top 300 prospect gives verbal pledge to Minnesota

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

Minnesota’s 2021 recruiting class has received a huge boost.

On Thursday night, four-star cornerback Steven Ortiz Jr. verbally committed to P.J. Fleck and the Golden Gophers. The Goodyear, Arizona native becomes the seventh player of the cycle to pledge to Minnesota. He made his announcement with a post on Twitter.

“I would like to thank each and every school who recruited me and provided me with the opportunity to achieve my dream of being a D1 football player,” Ortiz wrote on Twitter. “With that being said I am proud to announce I am 100% committed to the University of Minnesota.”

Ortiz becomes the second four-star prospect to commit to Minnesota in the 2021 class, and is now the highest-rated recruit currently in the class. He’s also the first defensive back committed to the Gophers.

Per 247Sports, Ortiz is a 5-foot-11, 170-pound cornerback who is listed as one of the top 300 players overall in this cycle. Nationally, he ranks No. 280 and is the No. 20 cornerback. He’s also the sixth-best player out of the state of Arizona.

According to his evaluation, Ortiz is an excellent one-on-one defender and is also comfortable making plays in space. He’s also a solid cover corner and possesses outstanding speed.

With Ortiz’s commitment, Minnesota now ranks seventh in the B1G and 17th nationally in the 2021 recruiting rankings.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB