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PJ Fleck: Minnesota ‘axed’ Wisconsin’s negative recruiting of Gopher commit heading into Early Signing Day
By Paul Harvey
Published:
PJ Fleck is working on putting together the finishing touches for Minnesota’s 2023 recruiting class. During his Early Signing Day press conference, Fleck also took a shot at Minnesota’s archrival.
According to Fleck, Wisconsin and new head coach Luke Fickell tried to negatively recruit and flip Martin Owusu away from his pledge to the Gophers. A 3-star prospect out of Prior Lake, the Badgers offered Owusu on Dec. 20 despite being committed to Minnesota since June.
In the end, Owusu signed with the Gophers on Wednesday. According to Fleck, the negative recruiting didn’t work as Minnesota “axed” the attempts of the Badgers.
PJ Fleck says @plhsfootball star defensive lineman Martin Owusu chose to stay home with the #Gophers despite several attempts by rival Wisconsin to flip him with negative recruiting about Minnesota.
“It didn’t work. We Axed it.”
See what PJ did there?? https://t.co/51Fun9KKwf
— Jeff Wald (@JeffWaldFox9) December 21, 2022
As for Owusu, he’s a 3-star DL and the No. 4 player out of Minnesota for the cycle per the 247 Sports Composite Rankings. As for the rivalry, it sure looks like Fleck and Fickell are providing some early heat to the heated series via the recruiting trail.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.