The Gophers men’s basketball team netted a verbal commitment from four-star wing Isaiah Santos on Tuesday.

The 6-foot-5, 210-pound small forward from Katy, Texas, visited Minnesota last week and also toured Colorado, Butler and Texas Tech this summer. The top 100 player in the nation had other scholarship offers from Houston, Illinois, Vanderbilt and many others.

Gophers head coach Niko Medved made Santos a recruiting priority this year and it has paid off.

“Excited for the next chapter,” Santos wrote on Instagram. “Thank you so much to Coach (Niko) Medved, @Gophermbb and everyone involved in giving me this opportunity, lets get after it!!”

The recruiting service 247 Sports composite ranking had Santos as the 78th overall player in the nation and the 20th small forward.

At Seven Lakes High School, Santos averaged 23 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three steals per game as he was named the all-Greater Houston boys basketball player of the year for the 2025-26 season.

Santos “helped Seven Lakes finish the season with a 35-1 record and reach No. 8 in the MaxPreps national rankings,” the Houston Chronicle wrote in April. “He was a Class 6A all-state selection by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches.”

For Brazil in the Under-18 AmeriCup in June, Santos averaged 14.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. Brazil played in six games and finished in third place.

Santos is Minnesota’s first pledge of the 2027 class, and the U might only take one or two high school freshman for next year’s group due to the addition of the new NCAA rule giving players five years to play five seasons.