Sobotka following his dream

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While it was not an easy decision, especially with scholarship money being offered elsewhere, Mount Ayr linebacker Jacob Sobotka decided that he had to follow his dream to play for the Iowa Hawkeyes. During his official visit this past weekend, the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Sobotka accepted a preferred walk-on opportunity from the Iowa coaching staff.

"It's just a great program and a great opportunity for me to go in there and work hard, get better, and hopefully help the team," said Sobotka. "It's always been my dream to play Division I football, especially at Iowa because I've always been a Hawkeye fan, so it's a dream come true for me really."

On his official visit over the weekend, Sobotka had a chance to talk with some of the current players at Iowa, including his host linebacker Drake Kulick, about the walk-on program for the Hawkeyes.

"The visit was a lot of fun," Sobotka said. "I got to see all of the facilities and everything again, but I think the best part of it was just getting to hear the player's perspective on things, especially the walk-ons."

"Everyone that I talked to said that it doesn't really matter if you are a walk-on or a scholarship player. No one really differentiates between the two and everyone is treated the same. It's really how you perform on the field is all that matters."

Sobotka, who plans to major in business management at Iowa, was also considering two other options in recent weeks as he set out to make his college decision.

"Northwest Missouri State offered me a partial scholarship and Iowa State had offered a preferred walk-on opportunity," said Sobotka.

In high school, Sobotka starred on both sides of the ball for Mount Ayr, especially at quarterback where this past season he threw for 1,175 yards, rushed for another 819 yards, and accounted for 23 touchdowns. On defense, which is where he projects in college, he finished with 34 tackles, five tackles for loss, and one interception.

"I'm going to be an inside linebacker," Sobotka said. "Either MIKE or WILL."

The Hawkeyes now have five walk-on commits in the Class of 2014 as Sobotka joins defensive end Sam Brincks, safety Brandon Snyder, linebacker Eric Grimm, and long snapper Zach Johnson.