As he announced on Twitter on Saturday evening, 2025 three-star linebacker Carson Cooney has committed to Iowa. Cooney joins the Hawkeyes out of Oswego, Illinois.
Cooney chose Iowa over offers from Wisconsin, Illinois, Northwestern, Michigan State, Iowa State and others.
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"I’m excited to announce my verbal commitment to the University of Iowa!" he said in a statement. "I would like thank God, my family and all of the coaches along the way who have believed in me and helped me achieve my dream."
Cooney received the offer from Iowa in October.
"I've been waiting for it," Cooney said following the offer. "It's one of the top colleges on my list. I've always loved Iowa and they've been one of my favorite teams to watch growing up. I still haven't really taken it in."
One could tell a commitment could be coming down the road based on our conversation. Premium subscribers saw my FutureCast prior to the article, predicting Cooney would end up a Hawkeye.
"Every year the defense is outstanding, and they're a defensive team," he said. "They're probably one of the best linebacker schools in the nation. If I want to succeed at the next level, that's the place to go. It's everything I could ask for, to be honest."
He'll be joining another top Illinois linebacker in Iowa's 2025 recruiting class, Burke Gautcher, who committed to the Hawkeyes in mid-October.
"Burke is one of my close friends," Cooney said at the time. "We've talked about playing together at the next level. His commitment is definitely something I've thought about.
The duo of three-star prospects willl bring a high-level of athleticism to the middle of Iowa's defense. Wallace has previously told Cooney he sees him as a mike linebacker.
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Cooney is the fourth commit in the Hawkeyes 2025 recruiting class, joining Gautcher as well as Joey VanWetzinga and Jimmy Sullivan.