Former Cedar Rapids Washington prep Dallas Hobbs commits to play football at UConn

CEDAR RAPIDS — It was the best decision Dallas Hobbs has ever made.

The former Cedar Rapids Washington athlete decided to serve a post-graduate year at Deerfield Academy prep school in Massachusetts. It was a great way to get away from home and grow up, meet new people and market himself as a football player.

It worked, as the 6-foot-6 defensive end committed Sunday to play beginning next year at the University of Connecticut.

'Just doing a post-grad year I would say was one of the best things I've done so far in my athletic career,' Hobbs said. 'It started out rough, not having to report for almost two months from what I was used to. I had to kind of football train on my own, not having any of the players close.'

Hobbs earned All-New England honors and was named the All-Central New England Defensive Player of the Year at Deerfield. He picked UConn over other offers from Army, Toledo, Dartmouth, Lafayette, Fordham and Holy Cross.

Very blessed to say I'm committed to UCONN to play football. Thank you to everyone who has got me to this point December 11, 2016

Very blessed to say I'm committed to UCONN to play football. Thank you to everyone who has got me to this point #HuskieUp pic.twitter.com/Tsz0rqLTFv

— Dallas Hobbs (@Dhobbs92)

Hobbs is the son of former Iowa Hawkeyes player Darrell Hobbs. Connecticut is coached by former Iowa linebacker Bob Diaco.

'I had great college opportunities this year and ended up choosing UConn, where I really enjoyed everything about it and made some really good personal connections,' Hobbs said. 'I would say I'm really growing as a person here at Deerfield. I worked hard to put myself in a great situation and have lots of people to thank for that.'

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