The 2013 Iowa football recruiting class has been short on a few things: tight ends and in-state prospects. The addition of recruit Jon Wisnieski today addresses both of those issues: Wisnieski projects as a tight end and he hails from West Des Moines Dowling. Check and check. Wisnieski is listed as 3* recruit by Rivals and Scout, although ESPN likes him a little more (4* recruit). In terms of measurements, Wisnieski appears to have a good frame to play tight end (6-5, 215), although he's probably a bit slight. (Say "hello" to Mr. Doyle when you arrive on campus next summer, Jon.) The ESPN assessment ($) says he has good hands and above-average speed and says he has the tools to develop into a very solid tight end at the college level. So that's nice.
While he sounds like he has the potential to develop into a solid player, getting Wisnieski's commitment is also important because it represents something that's been rare in recent years: winning a recruiting battle for a high-end prospect in the Des Moines area (who didn't even grow up an Iowa fan, no less). In recent years, Iowa has struck out with the likes of Jake Campos (WDM Valley), Amara Darboh (WDM Dowling), and David Barrent (WDM Valley). In fact, the last high-profile Des Moines area recruiting "win" for Iowa was probably Jordan Bernstine in 2007. Hopefully getting Wisnieski to come to Iowa represents a change in this trend. In any event, welcome aboard, Mr. Wisnieski.
Wisnieski's verbal commitment also shed some light on the big picture of Iowa's 2013 recruiting, which is that Iowa doesn't have many scholarships left to offer.
#Iowa told Wisnieski's coach Tom Wilson it had 4 schollies left for '13 class. Now, with 16 known verbals, there are 3. #Hawkeyes
— Rob Howe (@HawkeyeInsider) July 12, 2012
That's right: we're not even to mid-July yet and Iowa's already down to just three scholarships left to offer. Welcome to the new world order, ladies and gentlemen. We talked about how Iowa might fill out the rest of this class last month and Wisnieski's commitment should end Iowa's pursuit of tight ends. Iowa still hasn't landed a running back yet and it seems insane that they wouldn't add at least one RB in this class. Other than RBs, though, I suspect the last few spots will go to guys that can play in the defensive back seven (LBs, DBs), with the possible exception of an offensive tackle if a good one is available.