Nebraska DE catches Iowa's eye

The not-quite-11-man football has worked for the Hawkeyes.

It's easily forgotten now, but Chad Greenway first popped on the football world's radar as a one-man dervish in nine-man football in South Dakota. All-Big Ten, all-American and then Greenway was a first-round NFL draft pick and this winter was hit with the franchise tag, meaning he'll make somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 million a year (when and if the lockout ends). 

Tuesday, the Hawkeyes found another prospect in the off-number football of the great plains.

Drew Ott picked the Hawkeyes over offers from Kansas State and Ohio University on Tuesday. Giltner, located in south central Nebraska, plays eight-man football. Ott, a 6-foot-4, 235-pounder, has made 537 tackles the past three seasons. He averaged 18 points a game and helped Giltner to a Class D-2 state championship last winter. He placed fourth in the shot put  (52-2) in the Class D state track meet.

There was no offer from Nebraska. Ott told HawkeyeReport.com that NU considered him a tight end and took a commitment from Sam Cotton, son of Nebraska assistant coach Barney Cotton.

The Hawkeyes see Ott as a defensive end.

"I just really like Iowa," Ott told HawkeyeReport. "I really like the coaches and the program. It made my decision a lot easier since Nebraska wasn't going to offer, so then I didn't have to have all my neighbors telling me to go to Nebraska, but overall I just really like Iowa and I think it will be a good fit."

Ott has spent the summer going to camps to increase his exposure, according to the Omaha World-Herald. (Check that story out here.) On the Ott family farm just outside Trumbull, Neb., some of Ott's day-to-day duties include feeding 100 or so cows, according to the World-Herald story.

Ott is Iowa's third commitment for the 2012 class. He joins O-lineman Mitch Keppy and wide receiver Cameron Wilson.

Mitch Keppy, OL, 6-5, 287, Riverdale High School (Port Byron, Ill.)

Cameron Wilson, WR, 6-2, 193, Jerome High School (Dublin, Ohio)

Drew Ott, DE, 6-4, 235, Giltner (Neb.) High School