CROOTIN’: Hawkeye Football Lands Commitment From...

Nobody. Absolutely nobody. Yet. However, Iowa’s lead recruiter, future star running back and all around best person ever, Eno Benjamin, has spoken. And folks, when Eno speaks we should be listening.

It’s been a little less than 24 hours since Benjamin sent Iowa fans into a frenzy with the latest of his commitment prediction tweets.

Let the speculation begin. Or end. We are a few hours away so let’s let our minds run wild for what little time we have left.

So who could it be? the leader in the clubhouse at last check was Mac Hippenhammer. Yes that’s a real name and yes he is in the mix for potential commits. The 6’ 170 pound WR from Fort Wayne, Indiana is a 3-star by pretty much every recruiting service. At first glance, he seems like the obvious answer here. He has an offer, was on campus a few weeks ago and he fills a need. Then there’s this from shortly after Eno’s tweet:

Case closed, right? Not so fast my friends. Our pals over at PSU and MSU are also in pursuit and if you’ll allow me to get just a little creepy, let’s take a stroll through the kid’s Twitter. Lot of recent Penn State follows and tweets, as well as some new Notre Dame action. Am I saying the Hammer is going elsewhere? No. Frankly, I don’t know. But it isn’t a slam dunk that he’s our guy Eno is predicting.

Who else is atop the Iowa recruiting wish list? Well, we can start in our own backyard. Oliver Martin is the coveted WR from Iowa City West who has absolutely blown up in recent months with ridiculous performances at a number of different camps. He’s gone from a kid most Hawkeye fans would’ve been OK with to a kid most feel is a must get. For my part, I’ve taken to camping out at his house. Unfortunately, that seems to be frowned upon unless you’re Jim Harbaugh.

Speaking of Crazy Uncle Jim, Martin recently made his way to that w^0&3 of a town they call Ann Arbor for a BBQ, something he hasn’t managed to do in his hometown. The kid has made some comments here and there to indicate maybe he feels disrespected the Hawkeyes didn’t offer sooner. I guess it’s OK for places like Michigan to offer even later...

Staying in the state of Iowa, sort of, we find Andrew Van Ginkel. AVG is a kid that was overlooked out of high school in Rock Valley, but stormed onto the scene as a redshirt freshman at South Dakota in 2015. He finished with 56 tackles, including 18 for loss and 9 sacks. As a redshirt sophomore, he has transferred to Iowa Western Community College and will have two years to play two beginning in 2017. He would be a very solid pickup, as you can never have too many pass rushers, but early playing time seems to be a priority for him. Can the Hawkeyes offer that? I think it’s too early to tell.

Outside the state there are a plethora of names to watch. Damion Daniels is one that seems like a good bet to eventually end up in Iowa City, and he’d be a big get in both the literal and figurative sense. Think Juan Harris on a diet and without the drama. Hawkeye fans might recognize him as the video jockey for Chevin Calloway’s commitment video. The two are teammates at Dallas’s Bishop Dunne HS and would be a monster score for the Iowa staff. Unfortunately, his dad came out yesterday and said his first visit will be to our BFFs in Lincoln on September 3rd.

Other names to keep an eye on include 3-star DB, Russ Yeast, out of Ohio, although he now boasts an offer from Bama and I don’t think he’s our guy today. Lake Dallas DB Kobe Boyce was once rumored to be looking at Iowa pretty hard, but he seems more firm on his commitment to Texas now and Eno didn’t give us any indications of a continuation of the Texas pipeline with the hashtag #TX2IA.

There are some others, but the one I’d be most excited about at this point (aside from those names above) would be Delray Beach, FL DB Joshua Turner. The 3-star sits at 6’ 175 pounds and we know the staff is looking to add defensive backs. Getting kids from Florida will always be OK with me. Iowa is one of his better offers and recent social media activity would lead me to believe this could be our guy.

Keep your eyes peeled and your Twitter feeds updated. We’ll check back in after the announcement this afternoon with more detail on the newest member of the #Swarm17.