Hawkeyes land big time TE commit

The Iowa Hawkeyes have landed one of the most highly recruited tight ends in the country. Texas native Elijah Yelverton announced his verbal commitment to the Iowa coaching staff today, choosing the Hawkeyes over 35 other Division I scholarship offers.

"I love the feel of the campus," Yelverton told HawkeyeReport.com. "It reminds me of my hometown."

"I love the coaches and their history for tight ends," said Yelverton. "It’s Tight End U."

The 6-foot-5, 235-pound Yelverton had narrowed his choices down to Iowa, LSU, Ole Miss, Arkansas, and Penn State in recent weeks.

"I knew Iowa was the place that I wanted to be, so I told myself why wait?" Yelverton said.

In addition to his five finalists, he also held offers from Arizona State, Auburn, Baylor, Boston College, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Grambling, Houston, Indiana, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Louisville, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Texas, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Purdue, SMU, TCU, Texas Tech, Toledo, UCF, Utah, and Vanderbilt.

Overall, Yelverton is commitment No. 9 for the Hawkeyes as he joins Deuce Hogan, Michael Lois, Isaiah Bruce, Gavin Williams, Logan Jones, Ethan Hurkett, Josh Volk, and Tyler Elsbury in Iowa's recruiting class of 2020.

As a junior at Bishop Dunne High School in Dallas, Yelverton finished the season with 23 catches for 364 yards and four touchdowns last fall.

“He’s a big bodied kid that has the skill set of a slot receiver and also plays nasty in the run game,” said Bishop Dunne head coach Michael Johnson. “He can catch a bubble screen and take it the distance or block a defensive end for you. He has no limit on what he can do.”

See highlights from Yelverton’s junior year in the video below.