Colbert feeling Iowa
The Iowa coaching staff was the first to offer Class of 2017 defensive back Djimon Colbert and has had him on campus several times, but today's game day visit felt a little different according to the Kansas City native. With the Hawkeyes out to an 8-0 start this season, the 6-foot-1, 186-pound Colbert says he was really feeling the atmosphere around the program and inside Kinnick Stadium on Saturday.
"It felt different watching the game this time, especially with the season they're having," said Colbert. "I think they've got things figured out up there and they've beaten a bunch of good teams this year. Just watching them go out and take care of Maryland today was pretty cool."
Despite an undefeated record, the Hawkeyes have drawn some criticism nationally from college football analysts questioning their top ten ranking, but Colbert does not see Iowa's run ending anytime soon.
"I feel like the country is kind of waiting for them to fall off, but I don't think it's going to happen," Colbert said. "The coaches definitely know what they're doing, the players have all bought in, and everyone is really confident right now. That really looks good from a recruiting standpoint too."
This weekend, Colbert made the drive up to Iowa City with some of the coaches at Winnetonka High School and a teammate, Class of 2018 defensive back Michael Small. The group all had something to cheer about when Winnetonka graduate Aaron Mends, a redshirt freshman at Iowa, blocked a punt right before halftime.
"That was crazy, but we were actually looking for it," said Colbert. "The special teams coach told us before the game that Aaron was going to get one today, so we were all looking for it and went crazy when it happened."
Along with watching the game, Colbert also had a chance to catch up with the Iowa coaching staff and tour all of the Hawkeyes' new facilities, which were not quite finished when he visited Iowa City last time.
"We got to see all of the new facilities," Colbert said. "They're 100% done now and they're awesome. We got to see the weight room, the new turf, and all of the meeting rooms and everything."
"Then we got to talk to Coach LeVar Woods, who is the one recruiting our area, along with Coach Parker and the strength and conditioning coach," he continued. "They just said it was good having me up there because we've been trying to set it up for a while and this weekend it finally worked. They were excited to have me up there to watch a game."
Colbert's next visit to Iowa City might only be a couple of weeks away. The Class of 2017 prospect, who currently holds scholarship offers from Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas, hopes to be back in Kinnick Stadium when the Hawkeyes host Minnesota for a night game on November 14.
"I'm most likely going to be back up at Iowa for the Minnesota game," said Colbert. "Then I may go up to Nebraska again and I want to get to Arkansas or Wisconsin sometime too. They've both been trying to get me in for a game this year."
Meanwhile, the three-star prospect plans to stay patient with the recruiting process as he continues to learn more about all of the schools recruiting him and waits to see which other programs might end up offering over the next year.
"I'm still taking it slow," Colbert said. "I'm not going to rush into anything. I don't have a decision date set or anything like that. I'm just taking these unofficial visits and talking to different schools and I feel like there's still some other schools that are going to end up offering. We'll see."