Gophers offer former top-ranked recruit, LSU transfer Jaxon Howard

Howard was the No. 1 recruit in Minnesota in the 2023 class.

The Gophers football program has had success of late keeping top in-state talent at home, landing the top-ranked recruit in Minnesota two years in a row. Could it be three soon? 

Well, it wouldn’t be exactly in a row, but it could be three. LSU transfer edge rusher Jaxon Howard announced on social media Tuesday that he has received a scholarship offer from the Gophers. Howard was the No. 1 recruit in the state out of Robbinsdale Cooper in 2023. 

The Gophers recently received a verbal commitment from the top-ranked recruit in 2025 in Emmanuel Karmo, another Robbinsdale Cooper standout. That came after the U landed safety Koi Perich, the top-ranked recruit in 2024 out of Esko, in a dramatic recruiting battle that went right down to the wire on national signing day. 

So if the Gophers can woo Howard in the transfer portal, the U would have landed the top-ranked recruit in Minnesota in 2023, 2024 and 2025. Not too shabby.

Howard’s father, Willie Howard, announced on social media Monday night that Howard would enter the transfer portal after one season at LSU. Howard played in five games for the Tigers this season, recording a pair of tackles. As of Tuesday afternoon, Howard had posted on social media that he’s already received offers from Purdue, Indiana and Kansas in addition to Minnesota. 

Howard was a four-star recruit coming out of high school and was ranked by 247Sports as the No. 18 edge rusher in the nation in the 2023 class. Howard fielded a host of Division I offers in high school, including one from the Gophers. But perhaps the second time is the charm for the U.