Wednesday marked the start of the early signing period for all sports except football, which will run until next week, Nov. 20. Makena Christian and Zoey Bershers, vocally committed players for Gophers women’s basketball, signed on the dotted line.

Christian from Hartford, Wisconsin orally affiliated with Minnesota ever since February. ESPN ranks him as the 52nd-best player in the 2025 class nationally and the second-best player from Wisconsin.

“Makena is a very good student and is currently undecided on her career path academically, so it is great that she is able to take advantage of all of our options at Minnesota,” head coach Dawn Plitzuweit said. “Our staff on the field has been able to watch Makena compete with Grace Grocholski for the Wisconsin Lakers on the AAU Circuit for many years.

Bershers is a native of Farmington, Ark., and verbally committed To the Gophers since June. The 6-foot-10 forward chose Minnesota over significant offers from Wichita State, Seton Hall and UC Santa Barbara.

“Zoey is an incredible student with a 3.9 GPA and someone who will excel at the University of Minnesota as she continues her career in Occupational Therapy. Zoey really caught the attention of our staff while playing with SA Finest this past spring and summer.” Plitzuweit is in question. “We’ve seen her ability to play on the block as a post player and impact the game by scoring low and rebounding, but we’ve seen how well Zoey handles the ball when she gets into the box and shoots from the arc and controls the ball. She fits our versatile style of play.”

There’s no news on whether Minnesota will add more players to its 2025 recruiting class, but Christian and the Bershers will join the program for the 2025-26 season.