As announced by Iowa Athletics on Thursday afternoon, junior defensive back Deavin Hilson has left the Hawkeye football program.

“Deavin has decided to focus on academics with the goal of graduating next August,” Kirk Ferentz said in a statement. “We thank him for his contributions and wish him the best in the future.”

Hilson played in five games this season on special teams, but didn't record any stats. In his four years with the Hawkeyes, he played in 27 games, recording three tackles.

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Hilson joined the Iowa football program in 2021 as a two-star prospect out of Des Moines North High School. Listed as an athlete during the recruiting process, Hilson started his career with the Hawkeyes as a running back.

He redshirted during his first year with the program, and he didn't see any action that season. The following season, he flipped to defensive back. The position change resulted in more time on the field, as he saw the field in eight games as a redshirt freshman and all 14 games as a redshirt sophomore last season on special teams.

He was noted as making some big plays this spring as well by special teams coordinator, LeVar Woods:

Woods also spoke highly of Hilson just a few weeks ago, during Iowa's first bye week.

"It's fun working with Deavin," Woods said. "From a special teams standpoint, he's done really well for us. He doesn't get the stats sometimes. You watch our kickoff coverage, he's not the guy making the tackle, but everybody knows where number 20 is. He's disrupting the whole return, and you have to account for him all the time."