Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Football: Top recruits in the class of 2023

Episode Date: April 6, 2022

Iowa football has added quite a few new recruits in this offseason from the class of 2023. Including the most recent in John Nester out of Chicago, IL. Along with Nester, the Hawkeyes have recruited the likes of OL Leighton Jones, DL Chase Brackney, QB Marco Lainez III, LB (and wrestler) Ben Kueter, DL Maddux Johnson, and ATH Alex Mota. We'll be breaking down who the best recruits in this class are for the Hawkeyes as well as who we think will have the chance to start in their freshman season and who may need more development.Support us by supporting our sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back, Hawkeye Nation, to another episode of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Locked on Podcast Network. Before we get started here, I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Wright Hillpiper. I am the new host of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast, taking over from my uncle, Andrew, who did an amazing job, built this podcast from the ground up. So I've got some big shoes to fill, but I look forward to having the opportunity to

cover my favorite college and see if I can fill the shoe prints that he left behind. Before we get started here, I want to thank you all for making the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast your first listen every single day. You can find the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast for free wherever you get your podcasts at and also on YouTube by searching Locked on Hawkeyes. So today, the topic of discussion, 2023 recruits for the Iowa football team. Quite a few of them, seven of them to be exact, that have already verbally committed to Iowa to play football. A couple of extremely interesting ones that we are going to talk about first, get those out of the way. First one that I want to talk about is John Nestor out of Chicago, Illinois. Verbally committed to Iowa just yesterday.

out of Chicago, Illinois, verbally committed to Iowa just yesterday. Verbally committed and posted it on Twitter, as I said, out of Chicago. He's probably one of the more sought-after recruits that Iowa has managed to grab. Ranked 16th in the state of Illinois at that cornerback position that he plays, 6'1", 185 pounds, several, several offers that came his way. He started getting offers all the way back in December of 2021. His first offer was from Kent State. And then, you know, in the last couple of months, he's gotten offers from Ball State, Western Michigan, Bowling Green, Central Michigan,

Akron, Toledo, Miami of Ohio, Iowa State, Kansas, Purdue, Northern Illinois, Minnesota, Wyoming, and Iowa. Of course, several, several offers to John Nestor. He ultimately committed to Iowa. He went on record saying, the thing that I like most about Iowa was the culture and character of coaches and players in the program, which I cannot agree more. Love to see that he is committed and we'll see what he can do in his freshman year. Whether or not he will start his freshman year remains to be seen. Obviously being as young as he is, he's got a lot of development that he needs to go through before he's going to be able to be, you know, the best that he can be. But, you know, at 6'1", 185 pounds, he's a decent size for a cornerback. He's not the tallest guy in the world. He's not the biggest guy in the world.

But I think he's going to be able to do wonders for this Iowa defense coming into his freshman year, whether he rides the bench as a backup or if he goes in and starts right away. We'll have to see how that goes. The second one that I want to talk about, Ben Cooter. The one that I am most excited to talk about. Ben Cooter, a linebacker out of Iowa City, 6'3", 220 pounds. He's a big boy, along with being an absolute stellar football player. By the way, sixth in Iowa in the linebacker class. He's a three-star recruit, ranked 546th nationally. But he's a wrestler too. And not only has he committed to play football

at Iowa, he is also committed to wrestling at Iowa. So he is going to be a dual sport athlete at the University of Iowa, which is insane in and of itself. Being a Division I dual sport athlete is absolutely insane. I've gotten the chance to watch Ben wrestle at the state tournament. He's currently ranked second in the state of Iowa at 220. He's a two-time state champion. The kid, he's an absolute beast on the mat and on the field as well. So I can almost guarantee he'll start his freshman year. Obviously I could be wrong, but that's just my opinion. He's a stud of an athlete. He's well-rounded and he's a very, very hard worker. Like I said, I've gotten the chance to see him wrestle. I've seen his film and he had a few offers before he committed to Iowa as well. He started getting offers in 2021, the summer of 2021.

His first one came on August 29th. He got an offer from Minnesota. He also got an offer in September from Iowa State and another one in September from Missouri. Ultimately, in September of last year, he committed to play at Iowa as well as wrestle at Iowa. So I'm very, very excited to see what he's going to be able to do on the football field and also on the wrestling mat. I firmly believe that coming into his freshman year, he's probably going to be one of the better players on Iowa's defense

and probably one of the best wrestlers that Iowa has. You know, they've got a couple of guys leaving after this year. I think that he's just going to all around be an absolute stud on both the mat and on the field. So we'll have to see, you know, how that goes. Before we get into talking about the other athletes, I'd like to say, you know, around this time of year is when I've pretty much given up on all of my new year's resolutions, but not this year. This year I'm sticking to eating right. Thanks to built bar. It almost feels like it's not even really, you know, a new year's resolution because I actually enjoyed eating them and the puffs that they have. Oh man, if you're missing out, you are definitely missing out on those puffs. One of the best tasting protein bars I've ever had in my entire life. The puffs are the first ever protein infused marshmallow. Are you kidding me? Marshmallows? I love marshmallows. They're fluffy. They're marshmallowy. It's not just a protein bar. It feels like a dessert and they're covered in 100% real chocolate. It's absolutely insane. Puffs are a fan favorite with some incredible flavors. They've got a cinnamon

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cookies and cream. Absolutely insanely good. You've got to go check them out. If you want to go check them out, go to built.com, use the promo code LOCKED15 and get 15% off your order. Once again, use that promo code LOCKED15, that's L-O-C-K-E-D 15 for 15% off at BuiltBar.com. So the next recruit that I would like to talk about is Leighton Jones out of Brownsburg, Indiana. And holy cow, this kid is absolutely massive, massive, massive individual. He's a three-star recruit, ranked eighth in the state in Indiana at that inside offensive line position. He's a three-star recruit. He's got quite a few

offers as well. I think he has the most offers out of any Iowa recruit so far. And when I tell you this kid looks like he's 35 years old, I'm not kidding you. This kid is massive. I've watched his film and he is a beast. He looks like a grown man out there playing against a bunch of high school kids. He first started getting recruits around like a little bit before summer of 2021. His first offer came from Eastern Kentucky. And then after that, he started getting more and more offers in the winter of 2022, just after the new year. He got offers from Kent State, Illinois State, Toledo, Central Michigan, Western Michigan, Bowling Green, Ball State, Miami of Ohio, the Ohio Bobcats, and Purdue. Ultimately, he chose to commit to Iowa. He is scheduled to go on a visit June 24th

this summer. So he'll get the chance to kind of go on and look at the facilities, check all that out. But he chose Iowa finally on February 21st, just a short while ago. He made the commitment. Same day he made the commitment to Iowa, he also got that offer from Purdue. So it's a good thing that we snatched him up before Purdue got the chance at him. But like I said, this kid is one of the biggest high school kids I've ever seen in my life. 6'4", 250. biggest high school kids I've ever seen in my life. Six foot four, 250, absolutely insane size for this kid coming into Iowa's offensive line. I have no doubt that if he doesn't start his

freshman year, he will be off the bench, 100% starter his sophomore year at Iowa. Honestly, this is Leighton Jones. This is one of the kids that I'm most excited to see from the class of 2023 because he's just such a physically insane specimen. I cannot believe the things that I've seen him do on the football field against these high school kids. The next guy that I want to talk about, also extremely excited for this guy, Alex Moda, 675 pounds out of Marion. Once again, class of 2023. He's ranked fourth in the state, his position, three-star recruit. Also a ton, a ton of offers for this kid. He started getting offers back all the way back in February of 2021. The first offer that he got was from Iowa State and then started

to get more offers as the year went on. He got an offer from Kansas State, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Kansas, Miami of Ohio, and obviously Iowa. So this is a kid that's getting offers from major, major D1 schools like Iowa State, Kansas State, Wisconsin, all of these schools that are good at football, ultimately he chose to go with Iowa. He ended up committing on February 18th of this year, and he also has a scheduled visit for June 24th. So I'm sure he's excited to see the facilities around Iowa. I'm really excited to see this kid play. I haven't been able to find much film on him, which is surprising, especially because he's from Marion. I have seen him personally play in person in high school,

but I haven't gotten the chance to see him on film as much as I would have liked to. But obviously, I think he's going to do wonders at Iowa when he gets to Iowa. I don't think that he will start his freshman year personally. Obviously it remains to be seen, but that's just my opinion. He's very underdeveloped. From what I've seen, obviously I haven't seen much, but from what I've seen, he's pretty underdeveloped.

Obviously he's not the best guy in the world either at 6'1", 175 pounds. But we'll see what he can do when the time comes. Like I said, he has an official visit on June 24th. So we will see then, like I said, he has already verbally committed. So we'll see what he can do in his freshman year if he gets playing time. With that said, I'd also like to talk about rockauto.com. Now, personally, I've used Rock Auto before. I have a 2009 Jeep Wrangler, and this website works absolute wonders. And why would you choose to spend $, 50, or even 100% more for the same parts from a chain store or a car dealership?

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ever need at rockauto.com. So the next guy that I want to talk about, Chase Brackney, once again, an absolute monster of an athlete. Chase Brackney, a D lineman out of Colorado from Cherry Creek. a D lineman out of Colorado from Cherry Creek. The kid's huge as an edge, six foot four, 260 pounds. Are you kidding me? As a junior in high school, this kid is insane. This is the guy that I have found the most amount of film for. And I can tell you, he is probably the most developed out of all of these kids ranked fourth in the state at that edge position it's it's insane the kid is an absolute animal on the field it's it's crazy to me that that kids are able to i say kids but i mean really i'm only 18 years old so it's amazing to me to see you know kids being able to do things like he can do. He's

probably one of the best edge rushing recruits that Iowa has ever gotten. And I'm so excited to see this kid on the field at Iowa and see what he can do. He's gotten several offers as well. He started getting offers just after the new year of 2022. He got offers from New Mexico State, Colorado State, Colorado, obviously, USC, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah State, and he finally committed on February 14th of this year. He also has a visit June 14th, so quite a few Iowa recruits coming to visit on that June 14th day. That is going to be an absolutely exciting day for the Iowa football team. I cannot wait to see how this kid develops. He's an absolute monster, and I can't even think of words to say about this kid because he's just so, so amazing as a football player.

And I'm really, really excited to see what he's going to be able to do. Next guy I want to talk about, Marco Lenez III. Okay, this kid, a quarterback. Keep that in mind. Quarterback, 6'2", 220 pounds. Excuse me, out of New Jersey in the class of 2023, ranked fifth in the state at the quarterback position, a three-star recruit. Once again, several offers from this kid. And I tell you what, not only is this kid an absolute beast on the

field, he's smart. This kid is insanely, insanely smart. 4.0 GPA student. This kid is insane. He's gotten offers from Massachusetts, West Virginia, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, Illinois, Louisville, West Virginia, as well from Princeton. So this kid, he's smart on and off the field. I cannot wait to see what he gets to do at Iowa. He verbally committed to Iowa on December 13th of 2021. So he has been committed for a while, but I can't even imagine the smarts that this kid has on the field with the smarts that he has off the field. So I'm sure that Iowa is absolutely stoked to have a kid like this coming into their program, especially as a quarterback.

As I said, he's extremely, extremely intelligent, so I can't wait to see whether or not that's going to translate onto the field or not. Guaranteed he won't start his freshman year unless he really, really proves himself, obviously. But he's an absolute stud. So I can't wait to see. I haven't seen any film on him.

I haven't been able to find any, but I can already tell that this kid is going to be an absolute stud when it comes to the field dynamics as well as on the field smarts. So we will see where he lands when he comes to Iowa. Hopefully he's able to translate some of that, some of that smarts that he has onto the field. The last guy that I want to talk about is Maddox Johnson out of Norwalk. I have seen this kid play in person and I've seen quite a few of his films as well. A D lineman, six foot three, 270 pounds, ranked eighth in the state in his position right now. A three-star recruit once again out of Norwalk. Not too many offers for

this guy. He's only gotten offers from Iowa State and Iowa. Obviously, he committed to Iowa on July 8th, back in July 8th of 2021 after being offered a scholarship in June. He was offered by Iowa just nine days after being offered by Iowa State. So he chose to go with Iowa. Once again, So he chose to go with Iowa. Once again, 6'3", 270 pounds. This kid is absolutely massive. He's not exactly massive for his position, but just as a person. Kid is huge.

Like I said, I've gotten to see him play in person, and I've seen quite a bit of his film as well. So we will see where he's able to shine most on the field. Whether or not he'll start his freshman year, maybe, maybe not. Just kind of depends. It's hard to tell, obviously, with these kids, with these younger kids coming into the program, whether or not they're going to start right away. Obviously, they're still underdeveloped being in high school, but obviously Iowa sees something in them since they're already recruited at the age that they're at. So I think the only lock so far to start freshman year is Ben Cooper. As I said earlier, he's an absolute stud on the mat and on the field. I'm so extremely excited to see what he's going to be able to do at Iowa. We'll just have to wait and see whether or not he's going to be able to translate

his high school talents on into college. That's going to do it for today's episode. Once again, my name is Wright Hillpiper. It's great to be the host of Locked on Hawkeyes. Once again, I apologize. It's going to take me a little while to get in kind of the group things. I do apologize for the delay in episode production with the transition, getting me kind of affiliated with all the things and how this goes on.

I really do appreciate the patience that you guys have with me. And I really hope that I can take over for my uncle Andrew in the best way that I possibly can. Once again, make sure you follow Locked On Podcasts anywhere, excuse me, Locked On Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts, as well as looking up Locked On Hawkeyes on YouTube. You can follow them. You can follow them on Twitter and Instagram as well.

You're also welcome to follow me on Twitter and Instagram. Both of those usernames are just ryehill, W-R-I-H-I-L. You're welcome to look me up. Give me a follow on there if you would like. Thanks for listening in.