Iowa put the finishing touches on their 2016 recruiting class yesterday -- but where did all those players come from? Let's break it down.
And here's the information in table form:
| NAME | POS | RANK | CITY | STATE |
| Emmanuel Rugamba | WR/DB | 3* | Naperville | IL |
| Nick Niemann | LB | 3* | Sycamore | IL |
| Romeo McKnight | LB | 3* | Crystal Lake | IL |
| Barrington Wade | RB/LB | 3* | Skokie | IL |
| Amani Jones | LB | 3* | Chicago | IL |
| Austin Schulte | DE | 3* | Pella | IA |
| Shaun Beyer | TE | 3* | Cedar Rapids | IA |
| Spencer Williams | OL | 3* | Cedar Falls | IA |
| T.J. Hockenson | TE | 3* | Chariton | IA |
| Cole Banwart | OL | 2* | Algona | IA |
| Cedrick Lattimore | DE | 3* | Detroit | MI |
| Chauncey Golston | DE | 3* | Detroit | MI |
| Alaric Jackson | OL | 3* | Detroit | MI |
| Cedric Boswell | DB | 2* | Beverly Hills | MI |
| Toren Young | RB | 3* | Monona Grove | WI |
| Nate Stanley | QB | 3* | Menomonie | WI |
| Kristian Welch | LB | 3* | Iola | WI |
| Brandon Simon | DE | 3* | Ramsey | NJ |
| Frank Darby | WR | 2* | Jersey City | NJ |
| Toks Akinribade | RB | 3* | Brownsburg | IN |
| Devonte Young | WR | 2* | Waldorf | MD |
| Amani Hooker | DB | 3* | Brooklyn Park | MN |
| Noah Fant | TE | 3* | Omaha | NE |
| Lance Billings II | DB | 3* | Lorain | OH |
| Kyle Taylor | LB | 3* | Washington | DC |
All 25 of Iowa's recruits came from Big Ten states now that Maryland and Rutgers have made Washington, D.C., Maryland, and New Jersey all part of the Big Ten footprint. Iowa purses recruits outside of the Big Ten footprint, of course, but they weren't able to get any bites from recruits in those states. It will be interesting to see if Iowa's 2017 recruiting class has a more national distribution at all after Iowa's increased profile in the 2016 regular season.
Iowa didn't pull in any recruits from the south, nor did they sign any recruits from Texas. I think this may be the first time since Greg Davis has been on the Iowa staff that Iowa has failed to sign at least one recruit from Texas.
The state of Iowa remains the bread and butter for the Hawkeyes -- five members of this year's class are in-state kids, tied with Illinois for the most from any state. Illinois -- and the Chicago are in particular -- remains a vital recruiting pipeline for Iowa, though. All five of Iowa's recruits from Illinois were in the general vicinity of Chicago, including some of the most celebrated members of this class (Rugamba, Niemann, McKnight).
Michigan was also very fertile recruiting ground for Iowa this year, especially Detroit, where Iowa pulled in Lattimore, Golston, and (on Signing Day) Jackson. Iowa's had success in Michigan in the past, but this is the largest number of kids that they've pulled from that state in a while. As Michigan and Michigan State adopt more national recruiting profiles, there might be room for Iowa to sneak in and grab certain kids from Michigan.
Wisconsin was also unusually good recruiting territory for Iowa this year -- the coaching turmoil in Madison no doubt benefited Iowa in their recruiting efforts this year. We'll have to see if Iowa can maintain success in Wisconsin when (if?) Paul Chryst is able to (re-)establish roots in the state and (re-)build connections with the coaches and programs there.
Coaching turmoil at several of Iowa's Big Ten West rivals (Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Illinois all had new head coaches last year) was certainly helpful for Iowa's recruiting efforts in those states. Now we'll see if Iowa can maintain the inroads they made in those states in upcoming recruiting classes.