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While college football fans have a tendency to become enamored with star ratings and recruiting rankings, the Iowa Hawkeyes have been built on finding the right fit. Of course the Iowa staff looks for high quality players, but as we learned last summer, culture is every bit as important as talent and when the two pair together you see tremendous on-field success.
That’s what the Iowa staff is looking for in Des Moines North product Deavin Hilson. In a recruiting class filled with as much talent as virtually any other in Kirk Ferentz’s tenure, the staff needs fit and cohesion.
They get both with Hilson. Today, his dreams are officially reality as he signs his national letter of intent to play for the Hawkeyes.
From the 515 to the 319. @dh_dev #Swarm21 x #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/GzUlJyduMy
— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) February 3, 2021
Hilson has overcome tremendous adversity to get to this point. At Des Moines North, Hilson has won a football game in years. His senior season was cut to just two games. Those are hurdles most high school prospects don’t overcome. Hilson did.
Despite the limited film and minimal team success, Hilson showed the Iowa staff athleticism, burst and an incredible work ethic. Combine that with a willingness to learn and be coached and you’ve got exactly the type of character the Iowa program has loved to sprinkle into classes for decades.
On what it felt like committing, Hilson told HawkeyeReport:
I can’t even describe it. I’ve been talking to Iowa for months now, so just being that guy that gets a scholarship offer is crazy and a big accomplishment. Now I’m stress free because I don’t have to worry about other schools. I’ve got the school I wanted.
As for how he fits in with the Hawkeyes, Hilson expects to come in as a running back on day one, despite initially being recruited as a linebacker. That positional flexibility is part of what attracted the staff to him.
I think it’s just the kind of player that I am where I’m not locked into just one position. I’m a dynamic athlete that can play a lot of positions, so that worked out in my favor.
Hi high school coach, Eric Addy, agreed in a separate interview with HawkeyeReport:
What stands out about Deavin is the passion and effort that he plays with. He is a very twitchy athlete, especially for his size. His side to side agility is on another level. He plays with controlled violence and commits a lot of time and effort to his technique.
Hilson is one of 11 commits in the class of 2021 to hail from the Hawkeye state, a reflection of both the talent in the state in this class as well as the circumstances of this recruiting cycle in the midst of COVID-19. He’s the only prospect expected to start at running back, but would join Jaden Harrell and Karson Sharar, also of Iowa, and Justice Sullivan of Minnesota should he flip to linebacker.
Welcome aboard, officially, Deavin Hilson!