Downers Grove North junior QB Owen Lansu commits to Minnesota

Owen Lansu has only completed one season of varsity football, and has two remaining at Downers Grove North.

But he’s already firmed up his future plans.

The junior quarterback, who led Downers Grove North to the Class 7A championship game last fall as a sophomore, made his verbal commitment to Minnesota on a three-day unofficial visit this week.

Lansu, a three-star standout rated by the 247Sports Composite as Illinois’ 12th-ranked prospect – and second-ranked quarterback – in the Class of 2026, chose Minnesota from eight scholarship offers including Northwestern, Cincinnati and four MAC schools.

“It’s always been my dream to play in the Big Ten. Being a Midwest kid, that is the conference everybody watches. For that reality, it is surreal and special,” Lansu said. “It’s a very good feeling to know what the future looks like, what whatever happens there is a bright future that is locked in. It’s a very good feeling.”

Highly-touted going into high school, Lansu took the reins as Downers Grove North’s varsity starting quarterback last fall.

It was a debut season to remember.

Lansu threw for 2,106 yards and 26 touchdowns. Downers Grove North made its deepest playoff run since winning the 2004 state championship, losing to Mount Carmel in the Class 7A final.

Lansu made his commitment to Minnesota on Sunday at a camp for 2025 and high-priority 2026 recruits, his fifth visit to the school’s campus.

“After the camp [Minnesota assistant] coach [Greg] Harbaugh pulled me in the office and said ‘We want you to be the guy, we want you to commit,’” Lansu said. “When I was taking the trip I was not planning on committing, I didn’t have anything in the back of my head, but both days I was there went about as good as they could have gone. They asked for my commitment, and I decided it was the right time to do it. It’s hard to say no to that. We did not want to pass up on the opportunity.”

Lansu’s first connection to Minnesota came prior to his sophomore season, when he visited the campus and camped there.

At the time Harbaugh, Minnesota’s co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, told Lansu he wasn’t good enough yet for an offer. Harbaugh later came to Downers Grove North and watched him throw, by which time Lansu had grown and inch or two and put on 20-25 pounds, and came away impressed. Lansu said Minnesota offered him about 10 weeks ago.

“Very excited for him. He’s a kid that has worked really hard and deserves all the recruiting attention he’s gotten and then some. It’s a great fit for him,” Downers Grove North coach Joe Horeni said. “Last year, going to their camp, he was hoping they would pull the trigger and offer. I think that they didn’t frustrated him but more so it motivated him. He worked hard in the offseason and showed a lot of coaches what he was made of.”

Projecting ahead to college, Horeni said that Lansu’s understanding of the game is beyond his years. In Downers Grove North’s second-round win last year, the game-winning touchdown pass came on the fourth read. Lansu also threw a touchdown pass against Lincoln-Way West on the fourth read.

“He understands the game better than most seniors, let alone a kid who was just a sophomore,” Horeni said. “His processing of our scheme in terms of getting to the second and third and fourth read...I haven’t had a quarterback that could get to one to two, let alone one to four. His ability to stay in the pocket, he didn’t really get sacked that much. As much as it was because of our offensive line, a big part was his quick release.”

Now that he’s made his decision, Lansu said the timing just felt right.

“It feels good to go into the season and not have to worry about putting pressure on myself to perform better,” Lansu said. “To have it done, to have my focus just on the season and our team, feels good.”

Lansu has yet to put on a Minnesota jersey, but he’s already taking the lead for the program and his class, on the phone with a bunch of players from the Class of 2026 to try to recruit them.

He’s spent much of his offseason working to get bigger and faster, to improve his running ability.

“That is the part of my game that I didn’t really use much last year; I’m excited to use it a lot more,” he said. “In terms of leadership, last year we had a lot of great senior leaders that are gone. Now it’s time for the next group to step up and be leaders.”