Illinois wide receiver is No. 15 for Iowa's recruiting class

Iowa has opportunity at wide receiver. Henry Marchese is jumping in.

The 6-3, 190-pound wide receiver from Stevenson High School (Lincolnshire, Ill.) committed to play football for the Hawkeyes on Tuesday. Marchese, rated a 2-star prospect by Rivals.com, caught 63 passes for 1,053 yards and 16 touchdowns last season as a senior at Stevenson.

With the national signing period beginning Feb. 1 (next Wednesday), Marchese is commit No. 15 for the Hawkeyes. Iowa expects to sign in the neighborhood of 20 to 22 prospects.

'I'm excited to announce that I will be continuing my academic and athletic career at the University of Iowa! Go Hawks' Marchese wrote on his Twitter feed Tuesday.

I'm excited to announce that I will be continuing my academic and athletic career at the University of Iowa! Go Hawks January 24, 2017

I'm excited to announce that I will be continuing my academic and athletic career at the University of Iowa! Go Hawks #Swarm17 pic.twitter.com/4xicOMFpnD

— Henry Marchese (@HJM_5)

Marchese held scholarship offers from Army, Central Michigan, Bowling Green and Miami (Ohio).

'Iowa has everything to offer,' Marchese told HawkeyeReport.com. 'A good education, amazing atmosphere and great football. It's cool being able to follow in my dad's footsteps.'

Henry's father, John, was a walk-on fullback for the Hawkeyes in the mid-1980s. He played on the 1986 Rose Bowl team.

Henry has a twin brother, Michael, a 6-3, 190-pound safety who has a preferred walk-on opportunity at Iowa and a scholarship offer from Army. Another brother, Joe, is a walk-on offensive lineman at Maryland.

The Iowa wide receiver position made other news on Tuesday.

Senior Jonathan Parker will leave Iowa via the graduate transfer route, the school announced. Parker graduated in December. The 5-8, 188-pounder played in just one game last year, missing the majority of the season after suffering a foot injury in the preseason. He moved from running back to wide receiver following his freshman season in 2014.

'Jonathan has made contributions to our program throughout his career, which was unfortunately hampered by injury for most of the 2016 season,' Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said in a statement. 'Jonathan earned his degree in December, and we wish him nothing but the best in completing his playing career elsewhere next fall.'

This leads us back to opportunity. Iowa has it at wide receiver. With Parker's departure, Iowa will go into spring practice with five wide receivers on scholarship (Matt VandeBerg, Jerminic Smith, Adrian Falconer, Devonte Young and Ryan Boyle). Iowa also is looking for a new wide receivers coach with the departure of Bobby Kennedy.

Iowa does have a host of walk-on wide receivers (Ronald Nash, Connor Keane, Dominique Dafney, Brandon Bishop, Nick Easley and Yale Van Dyne).

Ferentz said getting back to a balanced offense is job No. 1 for Iowa's offense this offseason. The Hawkeyes finished No. 108 in the nation with 11.1 yards per completion last season.

Iowa coaches are on the recruiting trail trying to boost the receiver position. In addition to Marchese, Iowa has two other wide receiver commitments for the 2017 class in Wisconsin's Max Cooper (6-0, 175) and Mississippi's Brandon Smith (6-3, 198).

On Monday, wide receiver target Ihmir Smith-Marsette (6-2, 175) announced on Twitter that he has decommitted from Rutgers. This news came after an official visit to Iowa last weekend. New offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz has led Smith-Marsette's recruitment.

Cedar Rapids Xavier quarterback Bryce Schulte announced via social media on Tuesday that he will walk-on at the University of Iowa. Schulte (6-3, 215) told HawkeyeReport.com that he'll try tight end or outside linebacker at Iowa.

January 24, 2017

pic.twitter.com/gDdjMkwizj

— Ihmir Smith-Marsette (@_ihmirr_)

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