2019 OL enjoys Iowa visit
Class of 2019 offensive lineman Joey Lombard had a chance to visit the Iowa Hawkeyes for their final home game of the season on Saturday. The 6-foot-5, 310-pound Minnesota native made the trip with his parents and arrived early to get the full game day experience at the University of Iowa.
“I appreciated an opportunity to attend an Iowa game,” said Lombard. “We arrived three hours before the game and got to tour the facility including the weight room and the practice facility, and then went on to the sidelines for pre-game warm-ups.”
During warm-ups, Lombard and his family were able to catch up with lead recruiter Tim Polasek, Iowa’s offensive line coach, and talk about the recruiting process a little bit.
“I got a chance to meet with Coach Polasek and had a great conversation with him.” Lombard said. “He said he liked my tape. That was great to hear because I have been working hard to be a complete lineman. I’ve worked hard on run and pass blocking and feel I can move well for a player my size and I like to finish my blocks.”
“Coach said that he will be in contact with me after they wrap up the 2018 commits after December 20th,” Lombard continued.
Despite Iowa’s 24-15 loss to Purdue, Lombard was impressed with the game day atmosphere at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday.
“Unfortunately the game didn’t go the Hawkeyes’ way, but the atmosphere was awesome,” Lombard said. “We arrived about four hours before the game started and the parking attendant told us that people arrive as early as 5:30 AM. There were people enjoying pre-game all around campus. The stadium was packed. It was a great environment for a college game.”
Along with Iowa, Lombard is also hearing from Minnesota and South Dakota State, both of which he has been able to visit this season, and will likely pick up more interest as his junior film makes the rounds.
“I have been fortunate to make game day visits to three schools this fall,” said Lombard. “I’ve had 3 elite visits to Minnesota and plan on attending another one next week. I started talking to them at camp this summer and have really enjoyed the energy and vision of Coach Fleck and the experience and knowledge of Coach Warinner.”
“I also went to South Dakota State and had a great visit there,” he continued. “I got to spend a lot of time with freshmen players and had some good conversations with Coach Eck. They also invited me to junior day in the spring.”
“There have been several FCS and some FBS schools that have reached out and said they want to have further discussions after the 2018 class is signed in December,” Lombard said. “I think as more schools see my tape and see that I can run and pass block, get to the second level, and finish, I will continue to get more interest.”
This off-season, Lombard is playing basketball and is also back in the weight room as he starts preparing for his senior year at Anoka High School as well as camps next summer.
“Right now, I’m focusing on getting back in the weight room and preparing for the basketball season,” said Lombard. “We had a disappointing season and I was back in the weight room Monday after our playoff loss. I was voted team captain and am focusing on turning it around next year.”
“I didn’t attend a lot of camps last year, so I didn’t get much exposure, but I plan on attending 5-6 camps next year, which will likely include Minnesota, Iowa, and South Dakota State, and we'll add a few others,” Lombard said. “Overall, it’s been a great experience and I am going to keep working hard and try to get better every day.”