Minnetonka cornerback Jonah Cummings commits to North Dakota football, boosts recruiting momentum

North Dakota kept mining the Twin Cities on April 20, when Minnetonka cornerback Jonah Cummings announced his commitment to the Fighting Hawks and added another Upper Midwest piece to the program’s 2027 recruiting board. Listed by 247Sports as a 6-foot, 180-pound defensive back, Cummings joined a class that already included fellow Minnetonka product Caden Gutzmer and stood at seven hard commits.

The offer that started the push came Jan. 24, when Cummings was in Grand Forks for Junior Day. He said defensive backs coach Travis Stepps, special teams coordinator and nickels coach Shawn Kostich, and head coach Eric Schmidt were central to the decision. Cummings said the staff believed in him, liked the way he played and told him he had one of the best workouts they had seen this year. He also got a close look at the morning weights and speed work, then came back for a practice visit before the spring showcase and committed when coaches congratulated him.

For North Dakota, the pledge fits a clear recruiting lane. The Fighting Hawks are building their 2027 class with Upper Midwest prospects, and adding another Minnetonka defender gives the staff more size and speed from a high school program that has produced one of the state’s deeper recent backfields. If UND wants to keep pace in the MVFC, keeping those Twin Cities-area athletes in the fold will matter as much as any single commitment.

Cummings arrived at the Division I level with some traction already. Northern Iowa and Cornell also offered him, but his first start at Minnetonka in 2025 gave him a season to show he could handle a bigger role. The Skippers went 9-3 and reached the Minnesota Class AAAAAA semifinals before falling 42-41 to Edina, and Cummings said the year came with a learning curve that improved after each game.

His profile extends beyond the field. Prep Redzone says he earned Minnetonka’s Principal’s Leadership and Character Award in November 2025, an honor given to only about 3% of students there, and that he tutors students in American Sign Language. North Dakota’s staff has now landed a corner with size, special-teams value and developmental upside, another sign that the Hawks are trying to stack the region before the recruiting cycle moves deeper into summer.