The Gophers men’s hockey team on Wednesday received a commitment from Levi Harper, a defenseman from Tampa, Fla., who announced on Instagram that he will join Minnesota’s program.
Harper, 16, has spent the past three seasons at Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Faribault, scoring 11 goals and assisting on 33 in 55 games for the program’s Under-16 team during the 2024-25 season. The 5-11, 174-pound four-star recruit will play for the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League this season.
Harper helped the U.S. Under-18 Select Team win the Hlinka Gretzky Cup tournament in August, scoring four goals and assisting on one in five games. Harper had a goal in a 5-3 victory over Sweden in the final as the United States won the tournament for the first time since 2003.
It’s likely that Harper will spend two seasons in the OHL before joining the Gophers in 2027-28.
Harper is the fifth high-profile 16-year-old who has committed to Gophers coach Bob Motzko since Aug. 1, the opening day that age group could make official campus visits and pledge to programs. He joins former Moorhead forward Wyatt Cullen, former Lakeville North center Gunnar Conboy, former Stillwater right winger Luca Jarvis and former Northfield defenseman Ben Geiger. Cullen and Geiger will play for the U.S. National Team Development Program this season, while Conboy and Jarvis will play in the USHL for Green Bay and Tri-City, respectively.
Since late July, Motzko also received commitments from Brooks Cullen, 18, who flipped his choice from Michigan State to Minnesota, and former Grand Rapids goalie Carter Casey, 17.
