MINNEAPOLIS -- University of Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck had a thin, black three-ring binder with him at the podium during the Signing Day Social at Huntington Bank Stadium on Wednesday. It contained material on every recruit in Minnesota’s 2022 class, but it was used more as reference than a strict script.

Fleck spoke about members of his recruiting class for more than 42 minutes, going through each new addition — 18 high school recruits on scholarship, one FCS transfer and three preferred walk-ons.

Minnesota’s class ranked 43rd in the nation and 10th in the Big Ten, according to 247sports composite rankings. The university had two four-star prospects in the class — defensive ends Trey Bixby of Eden Prairie and Anthony Smith Shippensburg, Pa. — and 17 scholarship signees given three stars.

Here are some highlights from story time with Fleck:

During an in-home visit to Texas to see running back Zach Evans, Fleck had to work to win over Evans’ grandmother. The family and Fleck were eating ribeye steaks when grandma came downstairs.

“I say, ‘Hi’ and I don’t really get a smile,” Fleck said. “And then Grandma takes her food and she goes and sits in the dining room.”

Fleck and the Evans family joined grandma around the big table in the formal setting. Fleck sat next to her.

“For the next hour, it is an interview with the head football coach and Grandma,” Fleck said. “… The first question comes out and you answer it and you’re like, ‘Nailed that question — nailed it.’ And then I ask Grandma, ‘Did I answer your question?’ And she looked slowly at me and goes, ‘Nope.’

“Then she asks me another question. ‘Did I answer that question?’ ‘Not really?’ I’m like, ‘You’ve gotta be kidding me.’ Finally, after about an hour, Grandma smiled and she gave me kind of a thumbs up.”

Fleck turned to Evans’ dad.

“Hey Courtney … ‘How about a heads-up?’ He goes, ‘I’ve known her for 23 years. I wanted you to go through that.’”

Fleck used a video aid during his presentation to show Cade Conzemius, a walk-on receiver from Minnetonka, singing the “Minnesota Rouser” when he was 3 years old. His dad, legacy Gopher Justin Conzemius, had shared the clip with Fleck.

“M-I-T-S,” Cade sang. “Minnesota. Minnesota. Yah, Gophers!”

“Just the MITS,” Fleck said. “He’ll never live that one down.”

Alexandria receiver Kristen Hoskins and Harvey, La., cornerback Tariq Watson are considered the fastest members in this class. They could contribute to the return game.

Fleck said Hoskins is “one of the fastest players we’ve ever had on our own watch.”

Fleck added Watson had a 100-meter dash time of 10.49 in the Louisiana Class 4A state meet. “This guy can really, really flat out fly,” he said.

Recent Gophers quarterbacks have been outdoorsmen: Mitch Leidner is a deer hunter, and Tanner Morgan likes to fish. Add Jacob Knuth to that group. The Harrisburg, S.D., native sent Fleck pictures of Knuth’s young brother getting his first deer.

“Deer took off into the woods,” Flecks recalled. “I said, ‘It skipped!’ He said, ‘For about 20 yards.’

“‘That’s it?’” Fleck replied. “He’s like, ‘Yup. Direct hit.’ ”

Jacksonville, Fla., defensive end Hayden Schwartz is the son of Bryan Schwartz, a Miller, S.D., native who attended Division II Augustana and was a second-round pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 1995. He was on the NFL all-rookie team and had a three-year career in NFL.

Choctaw, Okla., offensive lineman Cade McConnell is the son of Aaron McConnell, who went to Oklahoma State and Pittsburgh State before a stint with the Tennessee Titans and six seasons in the Arena Football League.

Knuth’s father, Mike, was a kicker at Temple in the early 1990s. Columbia Heights tight end Spencer Alvarez’s mother, Stephanie, threw shot put on Minnesota’s track and field team.

Knuth had a scholarship offer from Iowa and went on an official visit to Kansas State last weekend, but he stayed true to Minnesota.

Schwartz was committed to Nebraska when he visited Minnesota and watched in-person as the Gophers beat the Cornhuskers 30-23 on Oct. 16. Schwartz decommitted from Nebraska a few days later and pledged to Minnesota last weekend.

Ashton Beers, an offensive lineman from Slinger, Wis., was the considered the 12th best player in his state and didn’t receive an offer from the Badgers. Beers, who flipped his commitment from North Dakota State to Minnesota in December, won co-offensive lineman of the year in the North Shore Conference. He did so alongside Joe Brunner, a Badger signee considered the No. 1 player in the state.

“It is really good to have his parents be Badgers, but now their son is a Gopher,” Fleck said.

Abilene Christian transfer cornerback Ryan Stapp played with current Minnesota linebacker Jack Gibbens at the FCS school in Texas. “I loved playing with him,” Gibbens said. “From the second he stepped on campus, we knew he was going to be a great player; that was evident. He was a freshman All-American. Guy is an incredibly hard worker, great leader.”

Coleman Bryson, a safety from Rabun Gap-Nachoochee School in Georgia, was known for his hard-hitting. Bryson’s former coach Joe Sturdivant said, “Coleman Bryson, every tackle, it looks like he evaporated a kid. It was unreal.”

“This is the smartest class that we’ve recruited,” Fleck said, noting the high grade-point averages of a lot of incoming players. … Minnesota will look to add more players through the transfer portal, or high schoolers during the regular signing period from Feb. 2-April 1. … The Gophers added a fourth walk-on Thursday, Burnsville defender Colton Gregerson. … Minnesota has one commitment in next year’s recruiting class: Springfield, Ohio receiver Anthony Brown. The four-star prospect is considered the fifth-best player in that state and is the younger brother of current wideout Mike Brown-Stephens.