Minnesota linebacker Andrew McGee commits to North Dakota after spring visit

Andrew McGee’s recruitment turned on early trust. North Dakota was the first school to offer the Shakopee linebacker on Nov. 6, 2025, and that head start helped the Fighting Hawks hold off a growing list of challengers before McGee committed after his weekend visit to Grand Forks.

McGee, listed by 247Sports at 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds in the Class of 2027, drew regional attention as his offer sheet expanded. North Dakota State followed on Nov. 15, 2025, then South Dakota on Feb. 10, 2026, Central Michigan on March 4 and Northern Iowa on March 12. Prep Redzone tagged him as one of Minnesota’s “Hardest Hitters” and one of two Shakopee players included in that group, a fitting label for a linebacker whose profile is built on contact and range.

The fit at North Dakota was about more than geography. McGee pointed to the relationship he built with linebackers coach Ben Watkins and head coach Eric Schmidt, two names that now sit at the center of the program’s defensive rebuild. Watkins arrived in Grand Forks on Jan. 2, 2025, after five seasons at Fresno State, where he coached All-Mountain West linebackers in 2024. Schmidt was named North Dakota’s 28th head coach on Dec. 8, 2024, and McGee’s commitment gives the new staff an early recruiting win in a corner of the Midwest where Minnesota prospects are often pulled in multiple directions.

Family ties helped too. McGee’s cousin, defensive end Braden Mohr, is already on the roster as a 6-foot-3, 245-pound edge defender from Farmington, Minnesota. Mohr started the 2024 opener at Iowa State before an injury ended his season, and McGee said the presence of a relative inside the program gave him a clearer picture of how North Dakota operates on and off the field.

The commitment also says something larger about the Fighting Hawks’ spring showcase. North Dakota drew more than 1,300 fans to the Pollard Athletic Center for its 2025 event, a crowd size that gave recruits a real taste of the support base behind the program. McGee had already seen the atmosphere from the stands last fall, when North Dakota beat Indiana State 46-17 at the Alerus Center and moved to 6-2 overall and 4-0 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Picked seventh in the MVFC preseason poll, the Hawks are trying to climb in one of the FCS’s toughest leagues, and the addition of McGee shows the spring showcase is becoming more than a workout. It is turning into a recruiting weapon.