By Jace Frederick

Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.

LeeAnna Kalscheur knew something was up last week when her son, Gabe, stayed up late to talk to his parents.

“He never does that,” she said.

Gabe, a three-star recruit in the Class of 2018 with offers from the likes of Northern Iowa, Drake, Pittsburgh and Minnesota, was ready to make his choice. But first, he had to explain it to his parents.

“It was kind of long, it was nerve-wracking, because I didn’t know what to say at the time,” Kalscheur said. “There was a lot of things on my mind, but I just talked from my heart and I just talked to my mom mostly, because she’s the one that has brought me up to what I am today. It was just a lot of talking about where would I fit in and what coaching staff are bought into me and trust me and love me and my family and trust my family.”

After talking to his parents that night, then again the next day, Kalscheur’s choice was clear: he was going to the Gophers.

“I could tell it felt right in Gabe’s heart that that’s where he really wanted to go for all the right reasons,” LeeAnna said. “It’s great that he’s going to the University of Minnesota. I couldn’t have wished for anything better.”

There are a number of reasons for Kalscheur to pick Minnesota, and he listed nearly all of them at his announcement Tuesday night at DeLaSalle. Kalscheur feels like he can help build on the success the Gophers had last season, the new facilities are enticing and the chance to play at home in front of friends and family is hard to pass up.