Kade Pieper discusses decision
After verbally committing to North Dakota State over the summer, offensive lineman Kade Pieper put the recruiting process aside to focus on his senior season at Norfolk Catholic, but then started receiving new interest from the Iowa Hawkeyes this fall.
"Iowa first reached out at the beginning of the season and wanted me to come to a game," said Pieper. "I couldn’t make it work, but I didn’t think they were really looking at me."
"Then, three weeks later, Brian Ferentz came to one of my practices and George Barnett reached out and we started talking about every day," Pieper said. "They told me they like how hard and physically I play and how they have had a lot of success moving defensive linemen to center and that’s what they were thinking of doing with me."
Eventually, the 6-foot-4, 240-pound Pieper was able to make it for a game day visit in Iowa City, which was the Hawkeyes' 33-13 Homecoming win over Northwestern on October 29.
"I went to Iowa last weekend to the Northwestern game and got to meet a lot of the coaches," said Pieper. "They told me they really liked me and might offer, but wouldn’t know until the next week or so."
By midweek, it was Iowa offensive line coach George Barnett making the call to officially offer a scholarship to the Nebraska native.
"Coach Barnett reached out to me on Wednesday night and offered me the scholarship," Pieper said. "He told me he thought I was overlooked and that people would be asking Iowa in the future where they found me."
After receiving the offer, Pieper announced on Thursday that he was decommitting from North Dakota State and then on Friday night made the announcement that he was headed to Iowa.
"Once they offered, I already knew I would commit," said Pieper. "I had talked to my family about the possibility of them offering, but wasn’t getting my hopes up."
"When it came, it was almost like a dream coming true for me," Pieper said. "I really like how Iowa develops players and how successful their program is."
Pieper, who is commitment No. 19 for Iowa in the Class of 2023, projects as an interior offensive lineman and expects to grow to 285-300 pounds in college.
See highlights from Pieper's senior year at Norfolk Catholic in the video below.