Hawks offer 2016 QB
Class of 2016 quarterback Nathan Stanley from Menomonie, Wisconsin made a visit to Iowa City on Monday. By the time he left town, the 6-foot-4, 193-pound Stanley had a new scholarship offer to add to his list, which came after a meeting with Hawkeye head coach Kirk Ferentz.
"I'm really excited about it because obviously it's a great school and has great tradition," said Stanley. "They also have great academics in the field that I want to go in to, physical therapy. It's really cool to just possibly be able to be a part of a great program like Iowa."
Stanley, who threw for 1,148 yards and 14 touchdowns as a sophomore, attended Iowa's camp in June. It was there that he impressed offensive coordinator Greg Davis, which eventually led to today's scholarship offer from the Hawkeyes.
"From what I understand, Coach Davis saw my film and then wanted to see me throw in person," Stanley said. "Once he saw me throw in person, that's when he started talking with Coach Ferentz pretty seriously about me and everything went on from there."
During today's visit to Iowa City, Stanley had a chance to sit down with Davis and go over Iowa's offense and how the Class of 2016 quarterback might fit in down the road.
"We just went over how their offense is designed for pro-style quarterbacks and how great of a possibility it is for me to go on and play at the next level possibly because the offense they run is very similar to a lot of the professional type of offenses," said Stanley.
Being the only prospect on campus today, Stanley also had an opportunity to spend a lot of one on one time with the Hawkeye coaching staff and see more of the campus around Iowa City.
"They showed me around the football facilities, I met with all the coaches and talked with a couple players, and just got a lot more familiar with the program," Stanley said.
After the two schools that offered, which are Iowa and Pittsburgh, Stanley said that Michigan State is probably showing the most interest followed by Wisconsin. Those are the four programs that had a chance to see him at camp this summer as he begins to dive into the recruiting process.
"It's been a great experience so far," said Stanley. "For me just to travel the Midwest plus go out to Pittsburgh and see different parts of the country that I haven't been to before and meet new people, that's a really big part of it, I think. It's been fun."
However, with his junior season at Menomonie just around the corner now, Stanley is ready to put recruiting on the backburner as he focuses on improving on his team's 9-2 record from a year ago.
"My sophomore year was okay, but I know I can play a lot better," Stanley said. "I missed a lot of throws just because of inexperience on the varsity level. A lot of big quarterback recruits for Division I colleges will start all four years, but last year was my first year so there was some inexperience that went along with it, but now I have a better understanding of the game. I think this season I'll have a much better year than I had last year."