Top-ranked Minnesota high school recruit commits to Iowa State over Gophers

The No. 1 2026 recruit in Minnesota is off the board.

Wayzata guard Christian Wiggins celebrates the Class 4A state championship. | https://www.instagram.com/christian_wiggins2

The Gophers men's basketball team offered highly-touted Wayzata guard Christian Wiggins a scholarship on March 30, but it was too little, too late as the top-ranked recruit in Minnesota verbally committed to Iowa State on Saturday.

100% Committed!!! #AGTG@Blessed2Coach @KingMuhneyy12 @Muhneyy_Kev @D1MN2026 @WayzataBHoops pic.twitter.com/diuRvIuEjR

— Christian Wiggins (@_CWiggins1) April 19, 2025

Listed at 6-foot-4, Wiggins is a four-star recruit and the No. 52-ranked player in the class of 2026, according to the latest 247Sports Composite. He ranks ahead of top players, such as, Dothan Ijadimbola (Totino-Grace), Jayden Moore (Hopkins) and Ryan Kreager (Faribault) as the top player in the state.

He was dominant for Wayzata as a junior, scoring 21 points in its Class 4A state championship victory over Cretin-Derham Hall. He will play one more season for the Trojans before heading to play for T.J. Otzelberger and the Cyclones.

Niko Medved and the Gophers attempted to play catch-up in his recruitment, as it was surprising he didn't hold an offer from his hometown program. He also held offers from Wisconsin, Iowa, Creighton and Northern Iowa. It's hard to make any sweeping conclusions about Medved and Minnesota's recruitment of Wiggins as Medved has been the program's head coach for less than a month, and Wiggins clearly had a longer relationship with Iowa State's staff.

Otzelberger lands another Minnesota recruit after previously picking up Curtis Jones (Cretin-Derham Hall), Nate Heise (Lake City), Gabe Kalscheur (DeLaSalle) and Robert Jones (Prior Lake) from the transfer portal in recent years. Iowa State's current coaching staff has recruited the state of Minnesota very well, with other players such as Demarion Watson (Totino-Grace) and Eli King (Caledonia) committing out of high school.

The transfer portal has impacted roster-building strategy, but high school recruiting still matters, and Medved and his staff still have a long way to go before dominating in-state recruiting.