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With fall camp about to start, Iowa's football staff put together one final recruiting event for the first weekend of August, inviting a handful of current 2016 Iowa commits and two 2016 targets to Iowa City for the weekend. They already cashed in on one: Three-star wide receiver Emmanuel Rugamba announced his commitment via Twitter Saturday morning.
Proud to announce that I'll be furthering my education and football career at The University of Iowa ! ⚫️ pic.twitter.com/mCrt1ZbmTX
— Emmanuel Rugamba4⃣ (@BooRadd_) August 1, 2015
There's a lot to like here. For one, Rugamba might be the most sought-after recruit in Iowa's class-to-date. He holds scholarship offers from Illinois, Indiana, Pitt, Boston College, Iowa State and a number of mid-major programs, and had enough interest from Notre Dame to take an unofficial visit earlier this summer. At 6'1 and 175 pounds, he looks ready to contribute early. The recruitniks at 247 universally expected him to land in Champaign, so his commitment to Iowa only further damages the Illini. And Rugamba plays high school football for Naperville Central, making him the fifth commitment to the Class of 2016 out of Illinois. Given Iowa's recent problems there, a breakthrough year in the Chicago suburbs was desperately needed. Also, we're already calling him DJ Rugamba.
Rugamba becomes the 22nd commitment to Iowa's 2016 recruiting class, and the third wideout to commit (joining Devonte Young and Frank Darby). In most years, Iowa's class would be full at this point, but we can expect 3-5 more commits before 2016 is in the books. Rugamba's commitment puts a bow on one of the most productive offseasons the program has experienced in Kirk Ferentz's tenure. Let the season begin.