Gophers lose No. 1 MN high school recruit Tommy Ahneman to Notre Dame

The No. 1-ranked high school senior basketball player in Minnesota has verbally committed to Notre Dame. The decision from Cretin-Derham Hall's Tommy Ahneman comes less than a week before he is scheduled to be on campus at the University of Minnesota for an official visit.

BREAKING: The No. 1 ranked high school player in Minnesota (CDH) Tommy Ahneman (@TommyAhneman) has verbally committed to Notre Dame, @TiptonEdits was first.

He had an official visit scheduled with the #Gophers for this weekend. He transferred from West Fargo to CDH for his… pic.twitter.com/EMZCroEl7c
— Tony Liebert (@TonyLiebert) September 30, 2024

Ahneman was named the North Dakota Gatorade Player of the Year last season at West Fargo Cheyenne High School as a junior. After the school year, it was announced that he would be transferring to Cretin-Derham Hall High School for his senior year of prep basketball in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was immediately viewed as the top player in the state.

Minnesota has been involved in his recruitment for quite a while. He was offered a scholarship on June 5 after his official visit in the summer. He originally scheduled another visit with the Gophers for Aug. 29, but it was pushed back to Oct. 5 and now it's unclear if that visit is off the schedule since he's committed to Notre Dame.

The Gophers were one of five schools on Ahneman's short list of options, joining Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa and Notre Dame. 247Sports ranks him as the No. 106 player in the country in the graduating class of 2025.

With Amari Allen off to Alabama, Keaton Wagler to Illinois and Ahneman heading to West Bend, three of the Gophers' top recruiting targets have verbally committed elsewhere.

Philadelphia guard Kai Shenholster is the only 2025 recruit to pledge to Minnesota so far.

High school recruiting is not as important as it once was, but Gophers head coach Ben Johnson and his staff will now have to pivot when it comes to building their 2025-26 roster and beyond. Arizona forward Tristan Beckford is a name to keep an eye on in the 2025 class.