Minnesota’s Rashod Bateman Earns Prestigious Preseason Honor

Rashod Bateman's name has been everywhere since he came on to the campus at the University of Minnesota has a freshman. After a breakout season in 2019, his name is now tied to a very prestigious preseason honor.

The Golden Gopher receiver was named a 2020 Preseason All-American today by the Walter Camp Football Foundation, according to a press release from the University of Minnesota. Bateman was slotted on the second team.

Bateman, a native of Tifton, Georgia, had a remarkable 2019 season for the Gophers where he set sophomore record with 1,219 yards (second-most in school single-season history) and scored 11 touchdowns (tied for third-most in school single-season history). Not to forget, he also set freshman records in 2018 with 51 receptions and 704 yard in 2018.

The latest accolade is just an addition to the many awards earned throughout his collegiate career. Bateman was named the Big Ten's Richter-Howard Receiver of the Year in 2019 and was named All-Big Ten First Team. He was a Biletnikoff Award Finalist in 2019 and was also named an AP Third-Team All-American.

Batemen has caught a pass in all 26 games he has played in, along with 111 receptions (12th in school history) for 1,923 yard (seventh in school history) and 17 touchdowns (tied for fifth in school history). Bateman has seven 100-yard receiving games, and he owns the top two Minnesota receiving games in TCF Bank history when he went for 203 yards against Penn State and 147 yards against Wisconsin, both in 2019.