Iowa recruiting buzz: Steven Stilianos, Leighton Jones join Hawkeyes

Iowa’s 2023 recruiting class rises in rankings

Mar. 2, 2022 9:45 am, Updated: Mar. 2, 2022 12:54 pm

IOWA CITY — The last week of February was an eventful one for the Hawkeyes on the recruiting trail.

Here’s a rundown of the last week of Iowa football recruiting activity:

Decisions

The Hawkeyes picked up two commitments over the last week — one via the transfer portal and one in the 2023 recruiting class.

Steven Stilianos, a tight end at Lafayette College, announced his commitment Monday evening after putting his name in the transfer portal in December. Stilianos also took visits to Rutgers and Virginia.

The 6-foot-5 engineering major only played four games at the FCS level in 2021 and has not used his extra COVID-19 year yet, so he has two years of eligibility.

Stilianos is the only pickup for the Hawkeyes through the transfer portal so far this year. Iowa had five departures from the transfer portal.

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Leighton Jones’ offer from the Hawkeyes came on Feb. 21. Five days later, he was sold on the black and gold.

The offensive lineman from Brownsburg, Ind., is a consensus three-star prospect who also had an offer from Purdue and several schools from Group of Five conferences.

Jones became the sixth prospect and first at his position to join the Hawkeyes’ 2023 recruiting class. By committing to Iowa, Jones wrote in a tweet he was fulfilling a “lifetime goal of being a Division I athlete.”

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Big weekend ahead

Several 2023 prospects, many of whom do not have offers from the Hawkeyes yet, will be in Iowa City this weekend. Visitors include Antonio Fondren, Beau Knobloch, Alex Bray, Tyler Gant, Hank Zilinskas and Cam Williams.

Jeremiyah Love, a three-star running back with offers from Iowa and a plethora of other Power Five schools, also is expected to visit, according to 247Sports.