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So Long, Farewell: WR Matt Quarells Departs Iowa Football Program

The St. Louis-native is headed to SIU for his final season.

By JPinIC
NCAA Football: New Mexico at Rutgers
While expectations weren’t high for Quarells in Iowa City, his late arrival made it difficult to deliver.
Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

With the 2018 National Signing Day fast approaching, many Hawkeye fans have been openly wondering where the scholarships will come from for the newest members of the class of 2018. The group already included 17 signees during the early signing period in December when they added another commitment last week in Connecticut WR Nico Ragaini. With 2017 DT commit Daviyon Nixon also in the mix, the group was standing at 19 members.

During his most recent press conference, Kirk Ferentz once again posited the Hawkeyes would take between 20-22 commitments in this class. The number left Iowa fans trying to do the math. To get under the 85 scholarship limit by fall camp, the solution was pretty straight forward: there were going to be some departures.

Today we get some clarity on the situation as we learned RS junior WR Matt Quarells is transferring to Southern Illinois.

Quarells transferred into the Iowa program late last summer from New Mexico. During his time with the Lobos he caught 13 passes for 203 yards and a lone touchdown in a run-heavy offense. He came to Iowa with immediate eligibility and a receiving group that was in need of some veteran leadership.

The late arrival proved to be a tough start for Quarells and he never seemed to climb the depth chart. He saw very sparse action early and recorded no stats during his single season with the Hawkeyes.

Quarells has reportedly already enrolled at Southern Illinois as a mid-year transfer. He is one of six such transfers for the Salukis. He will have one final collegiate season to play.

The impact to the Hawkeyes is minimal given Quarells appeared to have been passed over by freshmen Brandon Smith and Ihmir Smith-Marsette. The loss does limit the depth of the WR position, but the 2018 recruiting class appears to have already addressed that with the additions of Tyrone Tracy, Calvin Lockett and the aforementioned Ragaini. The Hawkeyes also added Illinois athlete Samson Evans who could end up at receiver or running back.

Best of luck to Matt Quarells in your future endeavors with the Salukis.

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