With Signing Day tomorrow, Kirk Ferentz and his staff are finalizing the Class of 2011 in the next 36 hours. Saddle up: It's time to get your creep on.
The New Guy. Last night, Iowa secured the commit of Jordan Lomax (3* Rivals, 3* Scout, 3*/78 ESPN), a defensive back from DeMatha High in Hyattsville, MD (you'll be reading that high school's name a lot more over the next couple of days). Lomax had initially committed to play at Virginia, but reopened his recruiting in January for unknown reasons (likely because he's a 17 year old kid; once again, folks, caring is creepy). Iowa, Stanford, and Maryland were waiting with offers. After a late visit to Iowa City and some peer pressure courtesy of fellow Marylander Nico Law and former high school teammate Marcus Coker, Lomax was on board. At 5'10" and 185 pounds, it's unlikely he'll step in immediately, but there are safety spots available for the taking.
The Last-Second Additions. With a bunch of scholarships in hand and some coveted players making last-second decisions elsewhere, Iowa's spending the last 24 hours handing out offers to players on the fence. The first two to benefit: Mansfield, TX halfback Damon Bullock (2* Rivals, NR Scout, NR ESPN) and Ohio-based linebacker Johnny Lowdermilk (2* Rivals, NR Scout, 1*/67 ESPN). Bullock was tentatively set to play for North Texas, but received the call from Iowa Monday and committed on the spot. Lowdermilk had offers from Air Force and much of the MAC, and reportedly some last-second interest from Ohio State. Both players are projects, and will need an additional 15-20 pounds before ready to contribute.
The Recommit. Iowa QB commit Jake Rudock scared everyone by flirting heavily with Miami two weeks ago. Rudock's from Miami, and his dad is apparently a Hurricane season ticket holder (and thinks he's also being recruited, given his repeated use of "we" in stories about the Miami flirtation). Fortunately, according to Andy Hamilton, Rudock's high school coach talked some sense into him:
It was a couple weeks ago during the peak of a late recruiting push when Jake Rudock's high school coach pulled the prized quarterback aside.
George Smith wanted to know where Rudock stood on a couple of issues regarding college football and its role in his future. More specifically, he wanted to gauge whether Rudock was picking a school strictly for its football program or if there was more factoring into his decision.
Rudock committed to Iowa in June, when he selected the Hawkeyes over scholarship offers from Wisconsin, Colorado and Kansas. That was before he posted Playstation-like statistics during his senior season and led Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas to the Florida state title and a No. 1 national ranking. That was before Miami changed coaches and Al Golden's staff made a late push to keep Rudock close to home.
Rudock listened to the Hurricanes. But he kept coming back to the reasons he picked Iowa in the first place - the success of the Hawkeyes under coach Kirk Ferentz, the stability of the program, the medical school that fits his academic interests, the opportunity to experience college in a college town - and he kept coming back to the commitment he made.
Barring some last-second development (highly unlikely, given the statements in the rest of Hamilton's piece), Rudock is set to sign a letter of intent tomorrow as the only Iowa QB recruit in this class.
The Last Push. Signing Day in Iowa City will be all about DeMatha High. Between five-star offensive lineman Cyrus Kouandjio and coveted defensive tackle Darian Cooper, the Hawkeyes' newfound pipeline to the Maryland high school powerhouse could pay serious dividends. Kouandjio, as always, looks to be a moon shot: Creepniks are saying he's down to Alabama and Auburn after last weekend. Cooper looks more likely; he'll choose between Iowa, Michigan State, and Georgia Tech tomorrow morning. All indications are that Iowa and MSU are in a coin flip.
Other potential commitments are going by the wayside. Indiana-based halfback "Round Mound of" Remound Wright look soft on his commitment to Stanford and scheduled a last-second visit to Iowa, but has apparently decided to honor his previous pledge and skipped out on the visit (likely leading Iowa to offer Bullock Monday afternoon). Pennsylvania defensive tackle Delvon Simmons looks unlikely, with some big-school offers (USC, Florida, Oregon) still available to him. With that said, there are a lot of quality players with Iowa offers dangling out there, and even more waiting for a phone call. We'll have a full primer and open thread set for tomorrow, so get a sixer of Zima and watch out for Chris Hansen. It's time to get creepy.