Iowa recruiting buzz: John Nestor commits, joins Hawkeyes’ top-10 2023 class

IOWA CITY — Another commitment, another rise in the recruiting rankings.

Iowa now has a top-10 recruiting class after picking up its seventh commitment from a 2023 prospect this week.

Here are the highlights from the Iowa football recruiting trail over the past week:

Decision

John Nestor, a three-star defensive back from Chicago, committed to the Hawkeyes Monday night.

Nestor also fielded offers from Purdue, Minnesota, Kansas, Northern Illinois and Iowa State, among other schools. He is 24th in Rivals’ rankings of Illinois prospects.

He is scheduled to take his official visit to Iowa in late June while many other key prospects will be on campus.

Committed elsewhere

Three-star athlete Darius Taylor picked Minnesota over literally half its peers in the Big Ten, including Iowa. Other Big Ten schools to offer the 5-foot-11 prospect included Wisconsin, Michigan State, Purdue, Maryland, Rutgers and Northwestern.

Taylor, from Walled Lake, Mich., is the 14th-best Michigander in the 2023 class, per Rivals’ rankings.

Offers

Caleb Benning, a 2024 athlete from Omaha, Neb., received an offer from the Hawkeyes over the weekend. Benning has a three-star rating from Rivals, but 247Sports is yet to rate him.

Nebraska and Minnesota also have offered Benning.

Class of 2023 offensive tackle Logan Howland picked up an offer from Iowa on April 1. Howland attends the same high school as 2023 four-star quarterback commit Marco Lainez.

Howland is a three-star recruit according to Rivals, but he does not have a rating yet from 247Sports. Other schools to offer him include Michigan State, Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee, Kentucky and Miami (Fla.).

Visits scheduled

Michael Garner, a 6-7 edge rusher in the 2023 class, plans to visit the Hawkeyes on April 14, he said on Twitter. Garner has offers from Army, Western Illinois and Florida Atlantic.

Class of 2024 punter Drew Miller is planning to return to Iowa City this weekend, according to Rivals. Miller, the second-ranked 2024 punter in Kohl’s Kicking Camps’ rankings, has interest from some of the top names in college football.

The Mediapolis native has taken visits to Alabama, Auburn and Notre Dame in the last month.

Trenton Smith, a 2024 quarterback from Ankeny Centennial High School, announced he’ll visit the Hawkeyes this weekend. Schools to express interest in Smith include Iowa State, Wisconsin and Florida, per 247Sports.

Trevor Buhr will visit the Hawkeyes on April 14, according to a Rivals report. The three-star 2023 defensive lineman is 80th among defensive linemen in 247Sports’ composite rankings.

Derek Weisskopf, a 2024 athlete from Williamsburg, will visit Iowa on April 16, per Rivals. Weisskopf has an offer from Wisconsin, but Iowa has not yet offered him a scholarship.

Class rankings

The Hawkeyes moved up to 10th nationally in both Rivals’ and 247Sports’ rankings.

While the next eight months could shake up recruiting rankings, Iowa is on pace to have its highest-rated recruiting class since Rivals began ranking classes in 2002.

Comments: (319) 398-8394; john.steppe@thegazette.com