UNI football picks up 8 more recruits

CEDAR FALLS — Northern Iowa football added eight recruits to its 2022 class on national signing day Wednesday.

Five of the eight additions were skill position players and two were transfers.

At wide receiver, UNI added 6-foot-4 Iowa transfer Desmond Hutson and 6-2 Southeast Polk standout Cole Filloon.

Hutson — a former three-star recruit — played in three games in three seasons with the Hawkeyes, missing 2020 with injury. The Kansas City native has three years of eligibility remaining.

Filloon’s 13 receiving touchdowns tied him for first in Class 5A this past season with fellow 2022 UNI recruit Brady McCullough. Meanwhile, his 870 receiving yards ranked fourth in 5A.

Kansas transfer Amauri Pesek-Hickson will join the Panthers backfield after rushing 60 times for 229 yards last season as a freshman. At 230 pounds, the Omaha native seemingly fills UNI’s void for a power running back after Bradrick Shaw’s graduation.

Des Moines Lincoln running back Joshua Jenkins announced his commitment to UNI on Monday. As a senior for the Railsplitters, he finished sixth in Class 5A with 1,113 rushing yards.

Jet Sollinger, a 6-7 tight end and defensive end from Wando High School in South Carolina, returns to his home state to play for the Panthers. Sollinger’s parents moved to South Carolina from Dubuque just before he began high school.

Defensive end Aiden Hansen from Lisbon, linebacker Caden Palmer from Clayton Ridge (Guttenburg) and punter Noah Pettinger from Dubuque round out the Panthers Wednesday signees.