Commitment Corner: Representing Minnesota Important Factor To Neels

East Ridge’s Weber Neels had an early introduction to the Golden Gopher culture. As a younger player, he trained under the guidance of some notable program alumni. This gave him an appreciation for the development possibilities in Dinkytown.

 What’s more, the proximity of the University of Minnesota was another big factor for him and provided the added benefit of allowing his family to follow his college career just a short 30 minute drive from his childhood home.

Neels recently joined the Ducks On The Pond podcast to discuss his recruiting process and commitment to the Golden Gophers.

You can listen to the full interview on Spotify or Apple.

What was your recruiting process like?

 My recruiting process was prolonged. When I joined Northstar, my group was the first team that put Northstar on the map. Ty McDevitt started it. Ty was my coach up until he got the assistant job at the U. Being around ex-Gopher guys -- [Alec] Crawford, Kvasnicka, Toby Anderson -- being around all those guys pushed me in the direction that I want to be one of those guys. I want to be in that group. And being with Ty and having him coach me made me want to continue to be coached by him. When I was making my college decision, he was what I wanted in a coach.

What other factors played into your decision?

 Staying home was a big thing for me because I felt like my parents put a ton of time and effort into my career and baseball. I felt like staying home was something I owed them. They can come down and watch me play at US Bank [Stadium]. The U is 30 minutes away from me so I can go down there anytime I want. Great facilities, up-to-date on everything. Siebert's great. Being close to PJ Fleek is pretty cool.

Another big reason I went there is because of Drew Berklund. He and I go way back, we've been buddies since whenever we started at Northstar, and we've always talked about following this line together. He and I are going to go and we're going to room together. Being at home and being able to play with all those Minnesota guys and being able to represent Minnesota with other amazing athletes from Minnesota is going to be really, really fun.

Have you always been a Gophers fan?

 Growing up I was a die-hard Wisconsin fan. I'm a Badger fan. My ties have kind of changed so now I've got to start cheering for the Gophers. 

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