Jake Merklinger continues hot recruiting stretch with Minnesota offer
Savannah (Ga.) Calvary Day School four-star quarterback Jake Merklinger has been on a recruiting hot stretch over the past week.
The highly-rated signal-caller has picked up six offers since Monday, with the most recent one coming from Minnesota.
On3 is the highest on Merklinger in the industry, according to the Industry Comparison Tool. He is the No. 24 recruit and No. 2 quarterback in the 2024 On300 ranking.
The On3 Consensus — a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies — has him at No. 72 overall.
Before receiving his offer from the Golden Gophers, Merklinger picked up an offer from Ole Miss.
Merklinger told On3’s Jeremy Johnson that the idea of playing for Lane Kiffin intrigues him.
“It seems kind of modern, new, stylish and fresh,” Merklinger said of the Rebels program. “I like both sides of it. I like the modern, cool stuff but I also like the traditional history too. There are two sides of the spectrum and I think both are cool to see.”
Merklinger’s On3 NIL Valuation is currently $82k. The On3 NIL Valuation is an index that looks to set the standard market value for both high school and college-level athletes. The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.
Minnesota has zero commits in the 2024 cycle. The Golden Gophers have seven commits in their 2023 class, which ranks 30th in the 2023 On3 Consensus Team Recruiting Ranking.