A dream come true for Aaron Graves

When the Iowa coaching staff offered a scholarship to Class of 2022 defensive lineman Aaron Graves on Tuesday, it did not take long for him to decide. A lifelong Hawkeye fan, the first question for the 6-foot-4, 230-pound Graves was, “How do I commit?”

Graves, who just finished his freshman year of high school at Southeast Valley in Gowrie, IA, took us through a whirlwind couple of days that led up to the commitment.

“At the camp on Sunday, I felt pretty confident with how I performed,” said Graves. “I was with the juniors and seniors, but I thought I did pretty well. Afterwards, Coach Bell pulled me aside and said I did a good job and let me know they’d be evaluating me as a coaching staff.”

“I had no idea at that point that I’d be getting an offer,” Graves continued. “But today they asked us to call in, so I called Coach Kirk Ferentz and he offered.”

“He said, ‘We’re going to offer you a scholarship,’ and I asked, ‘How do I commit?’ Because there’s no other college that I want to go to besides Iowa,” said Graves.

As a freshman, Graves put up big numbers on defense for Southeast Valley, finishing the season with 67 tackles, 15 TFL, and 11 sacks. It was longtime Iowa assistant coach Reese Morgan that first noticed him when he visited the school last year to recruit defensive back Kyler Fisher, who ended up walking on with the Hawkeyes.

“I think they saw me when they were recruiting Kyler last year,” Graves said. “Reese Morgan was the first one that talked to me and said he really liked my film.”

Morgan, who retired this off-season, was actually at Iowa’s camp on Sunday and had a chance to catch up with Graves, who last visited Iowa City for a junior day in March.

“I didn’t expect him to be there, but it was nice to see him,” said Graves. “I really appreciated him being there and talked to him a little bit.”

Beyond growing up a Hawkeye fan, Graves says Iowa was an easy choice for him because of the overall culture that he experienced on his visits as well as the academics.

“I just really like the lifting program that they have there and their environment,” Graves said. “Also, the classes that they offer because I want to go into the field of sports science and they have a really good program.”

Committing to play college football at Iowa was a dream come true for Graves and that feeling will not be wearing off anytime soon.

“It’s just absolute joy,” said Graves. “It’s also a big relief because I don’t have to worry about the recruiting process anymore. Now, I can just work and grind and get better.”

That will be the next task at hand as Graves is not only focused on getting ready for his sophomore season at Southeast Valley, but also has the next three years to prepare for college.

“The goal is to start, or at least play, as a freshman at Iowa, so I’m just going to be working hard and trying to get ready to be on that level,” Graves said.