Iowa Football Recruiting: Illinois DB Teegan Davis Commits to Hawkeyes

In today’s world of NIL deals and the transfer portal, big name prospects with big time deals gain all the headlines. Iowa has gotten in on those headlines of late with the additions of Michigan transfers Cade McNamara and Erick All. But the Hawkeyes have a program built more on finding underrecruited prospects and developing them into stars than simply signing them up front.

That’s perhaps no more true of any position group than Phil Parker’s defensive backfield. Over the years, Parker has made a habit of signing 1-2 under the radar prospects that leave most asking, “who?” But in 2-4 years’ time, those unheralded prospects have had a tendency to turn into starters in the secondary and oftentimes All-Big Ten honorees.

Now, with the early signing period less than two days away, the Hawkeyes appear to have found yet another diamond in the rough for Phil Parker’s bunch as Illinois defensive back Teegan Davis announced his commitment to the Hawkeyes.

Davis is an under the radar corner back prospect who was committed to Eastern Illinois until a few days ago. But the lack of star ratings, as we’ve seen over the years, appears to be much more about a lack of camp circuit appearances than of on-field ability.

A Princeton, Illinois native, Davis played both quarterback and cornerback for the Tigers en route to a 10-1 season as a senior. He earned 1st team all-state honors as both a QB and DB, racking up 52 tackles and 8 INTs on defense to go with 1,638 passing yards and 20 passing TDs as well as 766 rushing yards and 17 rushing TDs on offense.

While the on-field performance was impressive, it didn’t earn Davis a ranking from either 247 Sports or Rivals. It also didn’t garner him any offers aside from Eastern Illinois, where Davis committed in September. Even Iowa slow-played his recruitment despite having him on campus over the summer for a camp where he performed quite well.

This seems to follow the pattern of recent under the radar prospects Phil Parker has latched onto. Davis, like many before him, played both ways as a prep performing well on offense and defense. But more importantly, he was a multi-sport athlete who showed high level athleticism beyond the 40 times and positional drills at camps.

As a junior, Davis won the state championship in the high jump at Princeton with a jump of 6’6.25”. He puts those exploits to good use on the basketball court as well, where he was a 1st team all-conference player as a junior averaging just under 16 points per game.

It’s safe to say Davis is looking forward to the opportunity ahead of him. Speaking with HawkeyeReport, he said it was the opportunity of a lifetime.

It is the opportunity of a lifetime getting the chance to go play for such a great program. I will be getting the chance to be coached by some of the best to ever do it with Coach Parker and Coach Ferentz.

Davis becomes Iowa’s 21st commitment in the class of 2023 and the 4th defensive back to commit to Coach Parker. The class remains top-25 nationally according to both Rivals and 247 Sports. However, with signing day fast approaching, there are rumblings of several moving pieces before Wednesday.

Welcome aboard Teegan Davis!

Teegan Davis, CB
Ht: 6’2”
Wt: 180 lbs
Hometown: Princeton, IL (Princeton)
Stars: 247 Sports - NR; Rivals - NR