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Iowa Football Recruiting: Class of 2018 Update

A pair of Hawkeyes brought home a state title, another keeps fighting another week. Here’s a look at last week’s performances by Iowa football commits in the class of 2018. Plus, Rivals made some rankings updates Hawkeyes fans will want to weigh in on.

WR commit Samson Evans capped off a historic senior season with another Illinois State Championship on Saturday.
Image via @carterevans_5

State playoff races around the country are wrapping up and a couple Hawkeye commits in the class of 2018 are still playing. Here’s a look at how they performed last week.

Anthony Torres

Pos: TE

Hometown: Mishawaka, Indiana

Ht: 6’6”

Wt: 235 lbs

Torres remains out for the season with an injury. In his stead, the Mishawaka Penn Kingsmen took on Ben Davis in Lucas Oil Stadium last Saturday for a chance at the Indiana 6A State Championship. Unfortunately for the Kingsmen, they couldn’t keep up with Ben Davis and their star QB and Indiana Hoosier commit Reese Taylor as they fell 63-14. Penn finishes the year 13-2. Torres missed his entire senior season.

Terry Roberts

Pos: DB

Hometown: Erie, PA

Ht: 5’10”

Wt: 169 lbs

Defensive back commit Terry Roberts and Cathedral Prep were back in action last week. They rolled past Thomas Jefferson 42-17. In the win, Roberts had 1 catch for 40 yards (he had another for a 63-yard TD called back on a hold) on offense, as well as 3 tackles and 2 passes broken up on defense. Here’s a look at the highlights.

On the season, Roberts now has 1,069 yards and 14 touchdowns on 35 catches (29.7 YPC) on the offensive side of the ball and 15 tackles and 5 interceptions on defense. The win moves Cathedral Prep to 12-0 on the year. They will face off with Berks Catholic on Friday with the winner advancing to the Pennsylvania Class 4A State Championship. You can see their playoff bracket here.

Samson Evans

Pos: ATH

Hometown: Crystal Lake, IL

Ht: 6’1”

Wt: 190 lbs

Wide receiver commit Samson Evans and teammate Jeff Jenkins, an offensive line commit, finished their senior seasons in style as they were able to become back-to-back state champions with a 28-21 win over Nazareth Academy last Saturday. Evans, who plays QB in a run-oriented offense, finished with 155 rushing yards and a pair of TDs on 35 carries (4.4 YPC). He also added a 78-yard punt return for a TD in the win.

On the year, Evans finishes with 2,101 rushing yards and 37 touchdowns on 268 carries (7.8 YPC) and 605 yards and 8 more touchdowns passing. Prairie Ridge finishes the year unbeaten at 15-0 on the year.

Evans finishes his high school career with nearly 6,400 rushing yards, good enough for 7th all time in the state of Illinois, and 112 rushing TDs, 3rd best all time in the state. Here’s a look at his senior year highlights.


Rankings Updates

As they periodically do, Rivals made some rankings updates earlier this week. A few current commits in the class of 2018 for Iowa had some changes.

Samson Evans

Was: 3 Star

Now: 2 Star

Given everything I’ve written above about his accomplishments this season and over his career, this one doesn’t really add up. He also has an impressive offer list which indicates coaches see more than a 2 star rating. The only concern I would have on him is the position change. He plays in an option offense where he is carrying the ball 30+ times a game in high school and looks to be moving to WR at the next level. Even with a position change, I can’t make sense of this one.

Terry Roberts

Was: 2 Star

Now: 3 Star

Roberts appears to be the opposite story of Evans. I’ve said a number of times he didn’t look like a 2 star and I’m not sure if it was lack of evaluation or what that caused him to be ranked that way initially, but this one is finally corrected. Roberts looks like he could play WR for a number of power 5 schools and is good enough defensively that opponents just don’t throw at him. Good to see him get the bump he deserved.

Ben VanSumeren

Was: 2 Star

Now: 3 Star

I said it when I first wrote about VanSumeren committing to Iowa, he was vastly underrated as a 2 star. The only way it makes sense is if you assume the competition level was terrible, but his testing at camps should have been enough to see he is a freak athlete. I have some concern that he may be physically closer to his ceiling than a lot of Iowa recruits, but he looks like a man among boys on the high school football field. Like Roberts, glad to see him get some of the respect he deserves.


As a reminder, here’s the complete list of commitments to-date in the class of 2018, updated with new star rankings per Rivals.

Iowa Football Class of 2018 Commitments

Name Pos Hometown Ht Wt Stars Commitment Date Signing Period
Name Pos Hometown Ht Wt Stars Commitment Date Signing Period
Jeff Jenkins OL Crystal Lake, IL 6'4" 272 3 1/22/2017 Early
Dillon Doyle LB Iowa City, IA 6'3" 215 3 3/20/2017 Early
Henry Geil RB Green Bay, WI 6'0" 211 3 4/23/2017 Early
Tyrone Tracy Jr. ATH Indianapolis, IN 6'0" 187 3 4/29/2017 Early
Tyler Linderbaum DT Solon, IA 6'2" 255 3 5/1/2017 Early
Samson Evans ATH Crystal Lake, IL 6'1" 190 2 5/21/2017 Early
Terry Roberts DB Erie, PA 5'10" 169 3 6/5/2017 Early
Cody Ince OL Balsam Lake, WI 6'5" 260 3 6/19/2017 Early
Jack Plumb TE Green Bay, WI 6'8" 245 3 6/26/2017 Early
Noah Shannon DT Oswego, IL 6'2" 285 3 7/4/2017 Early
DJ Johnson DB Indianapolis, IN 6'0" 170 3 8/22/2017 Late*
Julius Brents DB Indianapolis, IN 6'2" 180 4 9/1/2017 Late*
John Waggoner DE West Des Moines, IA 6'5" 245 4 12/5/2017 Early
Calvin Lockett WR Largo, FL 6'2" 170 3 12/13/2017 Early
Spencer Petras QB Kentfield, CA 6'5" 225 4 12/15/2017 Early
Dallas Craddieth DB Florrisant, MO 6'1" 180 4 12/20/2017 Early
Seth Benson LB Sioux Falls, SD 6'1" 210 2 12/21/2017 Early
Nico Ragaini WR West Haven, CT 6'0" 190 3 1/8/2017 NA
Logan Klemp LB Jewell, IA 6'3" 210 2 2/2/2018 Late
Kaevon Merriweather S Belleville, MI 6'2" 195 2 2/2/2018 Late
Jayden McDonald LB Suwanee, GA 6'1" 210 3 2/5/2018 Late