Iowa recruiting solidly back in Illinois

The live video stream from Crystal Lake (Ill.) Central High School cut in and out Monday morning. So in one instant, defensive end prospect Romeo McKnight sat calmly at a table flanked by his coaches.

And then in another, the video feed cut back in with McKnight, a 6-4, 230-pounder, wearing a Tiger Hawk ball cap and a black-and-gold 'The Swarm” T-shirt.

So, yes, Iowa had commit No. 18 and its fourth from the state of Illinois, which had been mostly dormant for Iowa in the past couple of recruiting cycles.

'It feels awesome,” McKnight told HawkeyeReport.com on Monday. 'Now I can start wearing all of my Iowa gear.”

When McKnight visited Iowa for the first time in late May, he told HawkeyeReport.com, 'They (Iowa coaches) said they really care about the people there and it's about more than just football. That was something that they all kind of carried with them. All of the coaches when I talked to them individually, they all kind had the same approach and were really genuine about it, so that was really cool.”

Iowa was the lone Power 5 offer for McKnight, who won the Illinois Class 2A state wrestling title last winter at 220 pounds. His final three schools were Iowa, Miami (Ohio) and Toledo. Prior to McKnight's commitment Monday, he also talked about taking post-commitment visits to Illinois, Indiana and Purdue.

Now, those visits aren't happening, McKnight said. He's all-in with Iowa.

'I kind of knew ever since the first time I visited Iowa that's where I wanted to go,” McKnight said. 'I have a really good relationship with the coaches and I just feel like at the end of the day that's the best place for me to develop and get better working with (strength) coach (Chris) Doyle and (defensive line) coach (Reese) Morgan.”

Clearly, this recruiting class is the year of the reload on the defensive line. McKnight is the fifth defensive end commitment for the 2016 group, joining Chauncey Gholston, Cedrick Lattimore, Austin Schulte and Brandon Simon. This doesn't mean all five will end up at defensive end. Someone could grow into a tackle spot, but defensive end is a definite need position.

This season, Iowa has seniors Drew Ott and Nate Meier, but there's zero experience behind them with redshirt freshmen Matt Nelson and Parker Hesse listed as the backups.

Here is a scouting snippet on McKnight from Rivals.com: 'McKnight has been listed at 6-foot-5, but he does not look quite that long. He still has a lean build and plenty of room to fill out his frame, and could end up being a strong-side defensive end. What McKnight does excel at is playing with great pad level and gaining leverage on offensive linemen who do not bend well. McKnight is also explosively quick off the football and was a difficult match-up for his opponents.”

With McKnight's commitment, Iowa is now up to 18 for the 2016 class. The national signing period begins Feb. 4.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com