Pennsylvania DE says yes to Hawkeyes

John Raymon and his father Jack Finney left their home in New Town, Pa., 6 a.m. on Monday morning. Their long trip to Iowa City ended at 3 a.m. the next day.

It was worth it for all parties.

Wednesday Raymon committed to play football at the University of Iowa. The 6-5, 245-pound defensive end prospect picked Iowa over North Carolina State and West Virginia. He also had scholarship offers from Purdue, Illinois, Maryland and Temple.

"He's very fast and he's got a wingspan of 6-10 or 6-11," said Finney, who adopted Raymon seven years ago as a ward of the state. "He's very fast and very athletic."

Raymon is Iowa's seventh recruit for the 2011 class. He was the second of three to commit to the Hawkeyes on Wednesday, joining Ohio tight end Ray Hamilton and another recruit, whose identity is unknown at this point.

The three things that tilted Raymon's recruiting in Iowa's favor Finney said were a Big Ten education, the possibility of playing in a national title game at Iowa and the stability on the coaching staff.

Raymon and Finney spent about four and a half hours getting to know Iowa's coaching staff.

"To me, what Iowa did was very smart," Finney said. "They waited, but then when they made the offer to John, the head coach (Kirk Ferentz) was very involved. You don't get that (everywhere). We met a lot of head coaches, but it wasn't like they were taking an active line of communications with him as (Ferentz) did.

"Truthfully, for an 18-year-old kid that makes you feel really wanted. That might speak to the guy's success."

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Efforting recruit No. 3 of the day. Have a few ideas, but haven't panned out.

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John Raymon, 6-5, 240, Council Rock North High School (New Town, Penn.)

Ray Hamilton, 6-5, 225, Strongsville (Ohio) High School

Austin Vincent, 6-2, 170, WR, DeSoto (Texas) High School

Henry Krieger-Coble, 6-4, 220, TE, Mount Pleasant High School

Austin Blythe, 6-3, 280, OL, Williamsburg High School

Marcus Grant, 6-2, 190, WR Lawrence Academy (Groton, Mass.)

JaCorey Shepherd, 5-11, 170, WR, Horn High School (Mesquite, Texas)