As Iowa football hosts several key recruits for official visits, current Hawkeyes reflect on their official visits

IOWA CITY — Iowa football has no shortage of important visitors this weekend.

Kadyn Proctor is a five-star prospect and one of the best offensive linemen in the 2023 class. He’ll choose between Iowa and Alabama.

Logan Howland is another coveted offensive lineman choosing between Iowa, Oklahoma, Miami (Fla.) and Michigan.

They’re among the 22 recruits on official visits from June 24-26, according to Rivals. It’s undoubtedly a key few days on the recruiting calendar for Iowa’s 2023 class, which 247Sports ranks 19th nationally.

Ahead of the Hawkeye targets’ visits, some current Hawkeyes recalled what their official visit experiences were like.

Mason Richman

Offensive lineman Mason Richman was with a smaller group of recruits at his official visit in 2019 shortly after attending an Iowa camp.

“I learned so much about the program,” Richman said. “I got to sit down with a lot of coaches and Coach (Kirk) Ferentz, and we got to go to his place and see what 20 years builds you out here.”’

Richman still remembers seeing 20 handwritten cards from coaches.

“I’ve never had that many cards for my birthday or anything like that,” Richman said. “So it was really impressive.”

The visit made quite the impression on Richman’s mother, too.

“She’ll probably remember it more,” Richman said. “It’s like her favorite weekend ever. ... She told me to come here before I ever did.”

Less than a week after the visit, he committed to the Hawkeyes.

Since then, Richman has been on the other side of the official visits as a host.

Richman is hosting Howland this weekend and was the host for Kale Krogh, now an incoming freshman, last year.

“Hopefully we can have as much success as I did with Kale,” Richman said.

Of course, Krogh was already verbally committed, so it wasn’t as hard of a sell.

“I could have been a weirdo and drove him away or something,” Richman said.

Sam LaPorta

Tight end Sam LaPorta took his official visit in December 2018 shortly before the early signing period.

“Man, that feels like ages ago,” LaPorta said.

His lasting memory from the visit was dinner with special teams coordinator LeVar Woods, offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz and future NFL tight end T.J. Hockenson.

“I got a huge steak,” LaPorta said. “They were like, ‘Get whatever you want. It’s on the bill.’”

While the soon-to-be-senior won’t be hosting any recruits this weekend, he’s had hosting duties before.

“We always get together and kind of just hang out and show what the vibe is like outside the football facility,” he said.

John Waggoner

It’s been a while since defensive end John Waggoner’s official visit in December 2017.

Unlike LaPorta and Richman, he took his official visit after already verbally committing to the Hawkeyes.

Hockenson hosted Waggoner and offensive lineman Jack Plumb, who also had already committed.

“The official visit was a lot of fun,” Waggoner said. “We just hung out with the guys and had a good time.”

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