B1G in-state recruiting
Recruiting has been the topic du jour around the blogosphere. A poster on mgoblog has a post on in-state recruiting around the B1G. The numbers for Iowa are very interesting.Iowa is 9th in the conference in percent of recruits that from in-state. Between 2002 and 2011 only 50 of the Hawkeyes's 221 recruits have come from Iowa. Compare that to OSU who had 123 of 204 in-state recruits. However, the Hawkeyes were actually the top school in terms of keeping kids in state even with a very low number of actual recruits.
Iowa has gotten over 90% of all in-state kids who were B1G bound, which was top in the conference. Wisconsin was the next highest with 72.16%. As the poster said, "Ferentz may fill his roster with non-Iowans but only after he makes sure virtually every Iowan who can play for a Big Ten team will play for his."
I think a couple things are going on here. First, yes, Kirk Ferentz & Co. do a great job of recruiting the state of Iowa. Not only do they get most of the top kids on scholarship, but they also get a ton local kids to walk-on and contribute. An advantage the Hawkeyes have in this B1G-only view is that they are competing for kids in Iowa largely with non-B1G schools. Iowa State is the main competition, but Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, and Notre Dame sometimes also make waves. However, even when Iowa does go head-to-head recruiting with other B1G teams, they do very well (except against OSU).
Again, very interesting stuff, so check out the original post.
State of Iowa recruiting
Since 2002, the state of Iowa has produce 158 recruits that committed to a FBS school. Iowa and Iowa State have landed the vast majority of these kids. Iowa has had 50 in-state recruits, while Iowa State has had 61.
| Team/Conference | Commits |
|---|---|
| Iowa State | 61 |
| Iowa | 50 |
| Big 12 | 11 |
| Pac-10 | 6 |
| Big Ten | 5 |
| Big East | 2 |
| SEC | 2 |
| ACC | 1 |
| Non-BCS | 20 |
At first glance it may look like Iowa State is out-recruiting Iowa in-state. But with a little more data it's clear that the two schools aren't recruiting/getting the same type of players. Iowa typically goes after and gets more of the higher ranked recruits, while Iowa State gets a lot of the 2-star guys that Iowa has passed over.
- Iowa | 2-Star: 16, 3-Star: 27, 4-Star: 7
- Iowa State | 2-Star: 38, 3-Star: 22, 4-Star: 1
2012 Iowa Recruiting
Thus far, Iowa has only offered one in-state kid: Amara Darboh, a 4-star receiver from West Des Moines who's on the Rivals top 250 list. He's pretty much being recruiting by everyone at this point. I've read conflicting things on message boards as to which school he's leaning towards (I've seen Iowa, Notre Dame, and Wisconsin), but Iowa was the first to offer.
Some other names to watch according to Scout.com's list of prospects are:
- RB Barkley Hill - Cedar Falls
- RB Keevon Bernstine - Des Moines
- WR Charles Rogers - Iowa City
- RB Michael Malloy - Sioux City
Another Gabbert?
Blaine Gabbert's little bro Tyler has decided to leave Missouri after redshirting his freshman year. Now he is looking around at schools to transfer to and Iowa is on his radar. Iowa was in the mix with Gabbert coming out of high school, but he chose to play with his brother down in Columbia after committing and decommitting from Nebraska.Though supposedly not the reason for leaving, Tyler decided to transfer after finishing second in the starting quarterback race this spring. Coming to Iowa probably wouldn't make his situation much better. He would have to sit a year and then have another year behind James Vandenberg before he even got a shot. Then as a junior he would have to compete with A.J. Derby and Jake Rudock.
Still, I think Iowa would like to have him. They offered Gabbert last year and he was a decently touted out of high school (4-stars by Rivals and 3 by Scout). And, if he's anything thing like his brother he could make the QB competition very healthy in a couple of years. Here's his highlight video from high school.
Iowa offers a freshman
It was a big surprise today seeing that Kirk Ferentz had offered a scholarship to a freshman in high school. The kid hasn't even played varsity ball yet. Brian Allen, from Hinsdale Central High School in Illinois, is a center and is already 6'1", 245 lbs. He was a pretty good wrestler last year and Iowa loves it's wrestling interior linemen.There are other reasons to like Allen. His brother will be a freshman at Michigan State this year but was also recruited by Iowa, so the family is familiar. Also, there is an Iowa connection at HCHS...the offensive line coach is former Hawkeye Mike Jones.
Iowa offered James Morris as a sophomore and he committed that year. But that was a pretty special case. Kirk Ferentz is an excellent scout of offensive line talent, so there must be something he really liked watching Allen push around 14 and 15 year olds.
Quick Hits
- On the same day I posted a preview of Tennessee Tech, BHGP does the same. Great minds, etc...
- Norm Parker has been making his way around the state with a few other Iowa coaches on the I-Club circuit. He, as always, is providing some insight and a lot of entertainment. A few tweets on Norm's words: he takes a shot at OSU and says that safety could be by committee.
- Both PSD and BHGP have posted this, but it's pretty awesome, so here it is again: 2004 Wisconsin vs. Iowa