Dec. 3—GRAND FORKS — When the UND football program's 2026 recruiting class started to take shape with verbal commitments last spring, prospects placed trust in Eric Schmidt's coaching staff that hadn't proven anything yet on the field.
On Wednesday, with the opening of the NCAA's early signing period, UND announced 26 prospects. Those signees have now seen Schmidt's vision begin to play out, as the Fighting Hawks prepare for Saturday's FCS Playoffs second round at Tarleton State.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"I believed in Coach Schmidt and (UND linebackers coach Ben Watkins) in May when they offered and believe in them even more now," Nebraska linebacker Nate Appleget said. "They did what they said they would do."
Appleget, of Lincoln, Neb., is an example of a UND 2026 prospect who picked Grand Forks over a handful of Division I offers. Appleget had offers from South Dakota State, Northern Illinois, Air Force and Navy.
Central Cass offensive lineman Aiden Wunderlich, who committed back in April, chose UND over offers from North Dakota State and SDSU.
"For me, after I committed, I was 100 percent locked in on UND," Wunderlich said. "I didn't pick up the phone for another school's coach. I made my decision and wanted to get up to Grand Forks. The way I looked at it, if a bigger school wanted to contact me now, I probably wasn't super high on their list before I committed. I didn't pick up the phone for any of those schools. I respectfully said I'm 100 percent committed."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWunderlich is one of seven UND prospects planning to enroll early at UND and partake in spring ball. Schmidt said his staff didn't push for early enrollees but was open to recruits wanting to pursue that route.
The other UND prospects planning to early enroll are Army prep and former Kindred standout Jake Starcevic, Dallas wide receiver Delvin Cook, Omaha cornerback Torris Rudd, Florida wide receiver James Jones, Florida cornerback Christian Davis and Wisconsin quarterback Brooks Hendrickson.
"I think it becomes even a little bit tougher after the commitment," Schmidt said of holding off other programs from his recruits. "Once a guy makes a commitment, I think it can put an X on that kid's back as far as other schools looking at him. I think a number of schools will always try to look at who the Missouri Valley Football Conference has committed. So you're trying to educate kids about what's going to happen after you commit to us. What's that going to look like? What's the attention you're going to get. Then it just comes down to relationships and the connections you make."
In addition to in-state signees Starcevic and Wunderlich, the Hawks also added Marial Deng of Four Winds High School. Deng is the brother of UND wide receiver Deng Deng.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMarial, a 6-foot-5, 192-pound wide receiver, racked up 113 catches for 894 yards and 17 touchdowns in his prep career.
"Watching (UND) throughout the season, I knew I made a good decision," Deng said. "They've been awesome this year."
UND signed six players from Minnesota including area standout Tate Hamre of Crookston. Hamre is a 6-foot-4, 230-pound edge recruit.
The Hawks were able to hang on to a pair of defensive line twins from Missouri, despite heavy interest from schools in the Group of 5 conferences. Mason and Isaac Beaver of Kearney, Mo., signed with the Hawks on Wednesday.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"The Beaver twins, Isaac and Mason, along with Aiden Wunderlich, were as heavily recruited as anybody we've had here at UND," Schmidt said. "The different places that we were able to hold off I thought was really, really big for our staff to put a fence down and follow through to get those guys to today."
Two of UND's verbal commitments hadn't signed as of Wednesday afternoon, although Schmidt alluded to the possibility of additions yet this week during a press conference at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
Safety Ethan Headings of Iowa and wide receiver Carter Harris of Texas had given verbal commitments to the Hawks and hadn't signed by Wednesday afternoon. Neither player has posted a change of plans to social media as of Wednesday afternoon.
UND 2026 prep recruiting class
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement1. Brooks Hendrickson, Mount Horeb (Wis), QB
2. Jackson Stein, Lake Mills (Lakeside Lutheran), Wis., OL
3. Brody Woods, Cold Spring, MN, edge
4. Brady Goihl, Melrose Area, MN, OL
5. Aiden Wunderlich, Casselton, N.D., OL
6. Blake Buhr, Sheboygan, WI, edge
7. Nate Appleget, Lincoln, Neb., LB
8. Tyler Zdon, Fox Lake, Ill., RB
9. Marial Deng, Tokio, N.D., WR
10. Delvin Cook Jr., Dallas, WR
11. Sawyer Riffle, Brainerd, K
12. Sam Kline, Clarinda, Iowa, LS
13. Mason Beaver, Kearney, MO, DT
14. Isaac Beaver, Kearney, MO, DT
15. Toris Rudd Jr., Omaha, Neb., DB
16. Jack Vyhnalek, Seward, Neb., LB-TE
17. Braden Minta, Eden Prairie, edge
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement18. Evan Zabel, Alexandria, OL
19. James Jones, Delray Beach, Fla., WR
20. William Flottmeyer, LaCrosse, Wis., DL
21. Jackson Gronewold, Farmington, Ill., LB
22. Jordan Ellis, Gurnee, Ill., OL
23. Tate Hamre, Crookston, edge
24. Noah Milburn, Decorah, Iowa, TE
25. Christian Davis, Chaminade HS, Florida, CB
26. Jake Starcevic, Army, LB
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