{"id":48827,"date":"2023-06-22T13:00:15","date_gmt":"2023-06-22T17:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=48827"},"modified":"2023-06-21T11:49:20","modified_gmt":"2023-06-21T15:49:20","slug":"iowa-official-visit-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2023\/06\/22\/iowa-official-visit-weekend\/","title":{"rendered":"Iowa to Host Eleven Recruits, Final Official Visit Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the weekend of June 23rd to June 25th, Iowa will host nearly a dozen recruits in a big official visit weekend. Eleven uncommitted recruits in the class of 2024 will be in Iowa City for their official visits. It\u2019s a chance for the coaching staff to get a final push in before the dead period begins on June 27th. Several of the recruits that have already committed<\/a> will be on campus as well to help persuade the bunch to come to Iowa.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tight End Visits<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Of the 11 visitors, six of them are pass catchers – two tight ends and four wide receivers. The top tight end of the group is Eric Karner<\/strong>, a four-star from Elmhurst, Illinois. He is 6\u2019-5\u201d and 220 pounds and is currently slated as the 33rd overall tight end<\/a> in the nation. In addition to the Hawkeyes, Karner is getting a lot of attention from Florida and Michigan State. After his official visit to Gainesville on June 12th, he said, \u201cThey\u2019re probably at the top [of the list] right now.\u201d He has a visit scheduled with Michigan State as well. Karner has the ideal stature for a tight end and could very well be another great Hawkeye tight end, but Kirk Ferentz<\/strong> and staff will have to \u201cwow\u201d him this weekend.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gavin Hoffman<\/strong> is the other tight end who will be in Iowa City this weekend. He\u2019s a three-star from Overland Park, Kansas who\u2019s also getting looks from Missouri and Arizona State. Hoffman is the same height and weight as Karner, and ranked just one spot behind him nationally at the position, 34th overall. At this point, the Hawkeyes do not have a tight end in their 2024 commits, so Karner and Hoffman will be top targets this weekend.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Wide Receiver Visits<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The four wide receivers in town start with three-star KJ Parker<\/strong>. The 5\u2019-11\u201d and 165-pound pass catcher is listed as an athlete according to 247Sports, but the Hawkeyes would probably like to see him in that slot position. Parker goes to the same high school as Karner in Elmhurst, Illinois. Cincinnati is the other team with eyes on this wide receiver, and his decision will likely be between the Hawkeyes and the Bearcats this June.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Charlie Becker<\/strong> is from Nashville, Tennessee, and stands at 6\u2019-3\u201d and 185 pounds at receiver. He\u2019s currently the 113th-ranked wideout in the 2024 class, and will be in Iowa City this weekend. Becker made an unofficial visit in May and said he liked the feel at Iowa. Prior to his official visit this weekend, he made visits to Northwestern and Indiana. These two programs are likely the main competition for the Hawkeyes to land Becker. Adding a receiver of his frame to the 2024 class would be massive, as Iowa has not landed a receiver commitment for 2024 yet.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reece Vander Zee<\/strong> and Sage Clawges<\/strong> are the other two wide-outs making official visits this weekend. They are both three-stars according to 247Sports, and they have the ideal size for their position. Vander Zee is 6\u2019-5\u201d from Rock Rapids, Iowa. He visited Iowa State earlier in June, and the Cyclones appear to be the only other major player in his decision. Clawges is 6\u2019-4\u201d and currently does not have any other official visits scheduled. That is a good sign for Iowa who could use his size at the position.<\/span><\/p>\n

Top Defensive Player Visits<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The highest-rated recruit visiting Iowa City this weekend is edge rusher Chima Chineke<\/strong> who\u2019s a three-star and 31st-ranked at his position nationally. Chineke is 6\u2019-4.5\u201d and 240 pounds entering his senior year of high school at Plano East High School in Plano, Texas. He finished his junior season in 2022 with 31 tackles and six-and-half sacks. He officially visited Oklahoma State just a few days ago and also visited Oregon State, Texas Tech, Kansas, and Vanderbilt. Chineke will make a decision in July, and Texas Tech will likely be the biggest competition for Ferentz and staff.<\/span><\/p>\n

Xavier Lucas<\/strong> stands out as one of the defensive backs visiting Iowa this weekend. He\u2019s a Fort Lauderdale, Florida native and has garnered attention from Big Ten and SEC schools, including Alabama. Lucas has officially visited Rutgers, Wisconsin, and Illinois, with Iowa being his final official visit before the dead period. He has run a 10.99 100-meter dash in high school and is just over six feet tall and 185 pounds. The interest he is gaining from Illinois and Iowa is significant being that they were the top two scoring defenses in the nation last year with excellent secondaries.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Other Notable Defenders<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Jaylen Watson<\/strong> is a three-star athlete who Iowa offered as a defensive back after he attended Iowa\u2019s June camp session. The Ohio native has been offered as a wide receiver to a handful of other schools but has said Iowa is at the top of his list. Watson is set to make a decision on July 8th.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rashad Godfrey<\/strong> is another Florida native at defensive back who will be in Iowa City this weekend. He\u2019s officially visited Western Michigan and Florida Atlantic to this point, with Iowa being his final visit before the dead period. He\u2019s a 6\u2019-2\u201d 185-pound cornerback. Graham Eben<\/strong> is visiting but currently does not hold any offer from Iowa. The Iowa native is listed as a two-star defensive back, with interest from South Dakota as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, defensive end Joseph Anderson<\/strong> will be among the group in Iowa City this weekend. The edge rusher is a three-star at 6\u2019-5\u201d and 210 pounds from Saint Louis, Missouri. He officially visited both Nebraska and Kansas earlier this month. Both of which will be in competition with Iowa for landing Anderson.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Iowa<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the weekend of June 23rd to June 25th, Iowa will host nearly a dozen recruits in a big official visit weekend. Eleven uncommitted recruits in the class of 2024 will be in Iowa City for their official visits. It\u2019s a chance for the coaching staff to get a final push in before the dead […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3944,"featured_media":48830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,7316],"tags":[7983,10183,10184,10185,319,1795,10182,3060],"class_list":["post-48827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-bigten","category-recruiting","tag-big-ten-football","tag-charlie-becker","tag-eric-karner","tag-gavin-hoffman","tag-iowa-hawkeyes","tag-kirk-ferentz","tag-kj-parker","tag-recruiting"],"modified_by":"Tony Siracusa, CFB Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3944"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}