Iowa comes from behind to land five-star Xavier Nwankpa

There was a time in his recruitment where it seemed like Iowa was on the outside looking in to potentially landing a commitment from Xavier Nwankpa.

The eventual five star in-state prospect became one of the hottest prospects in the country and eventually he had a list of scholarship offers that would allow him to essentially go to any blue blood program in the country.

Nwankpa had offers from Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan, Oklahoma, and many others. While the offers kept rolling in, schools were not allowed to have prospects on campus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so the brand name appeal probably resonated a bit more because building relationships with coaches was more challenging over Zoom than in-person on campus visits.

Meanwhile at that same time, Iowa was going through a challenging time. In the spring of 2020 there were accusations of racial disparity in the Hawkeye program that resulted in long time strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle moving on from his position on the coaching staff.

Nwankpa has questions, as did his family. Meanwhile he also had really good options, so Iowa seemed to fall behind in the recruiting race. There was buzz about LSU, Texas A&M, and Ohio State, but not a whole lot about the Hawkeyes.

Yet, Iowa was the little engine that could. They kept building the relationship and a couple of factors certainly helped turns the recruitment in their favor. First, it was about getting the 6-foot-2 standout from Southeast Polk High School back on campus and that happened in late June.

He and his family had questions, not only about his potential role on the team, but regarding the racial disparities within the program. Kirk Ferentz and his staff have been very proactive on that front, not waiting for a parent or prospect to uncomfortably bring it up. They discuss it openly, honestly, and frankly with everyone and that has been the best approach possible.

He also started to develop relationships with some of the players on the Iowa team and he was in attendance when Kinnick Stadium was at its best after the Penn State game. Nwankpa and several other recruits were in the locker room after the game celebrating the big win. We also saw several Iowa players engaging with him and other recruits after the game while they were on the field.

Finally, there’s the potential value of the name, image, and likeness deals in the state of Iowa. If he went elsewhere he could probably be just another player, but in Iowa the five star safety is going to be a very big deal in the state of Iowa. He sees someone like Des Moines native Caitlin Clark picking up an NIL deal from Hy-Vee and he has to think that might be possible for him once he arrives on campus.

There’s also the on the field side of the recruitment and the success that Iowa has had putting players in the NFL from the defensive back position and earning All Big Ten recognition. Last week we saw Riley Moss become the fifth Iowa player in the last decade to be named the Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year. Couple that with Phil Parker regularly putting players into the NFL and that’s a huge selling point that stood right there with the Ohio State’s and Notre Dame’s of the world.

Finally, there’s nothing like being close to home. Nwankpa appears to be very close with his family, particularly his mom, so being just a short drive away would be important in his decision.

All of this led to Iowa landing the first five star player of the Rivals era from the Hawkeye state. It was a great victory for the Hawkeye staff and it could pay even more dividends in the coming weeks and months with other notable prospects who will be making their decisions.