Nine Iowa Hawkeyes were recognized on Tuesday as Associated Press All-Big Ten selections, including a league-high five first-team choices.
Graduate defensive back Sebastian Castro, senior right guard Connor Colby, fifth-year linebacker Jay Higgins, junior running back Kaleb Johnson and senior return specialist Kaden Wetjen were all first-team All-Big Ten selections.
Junior offensive tackle Gennings Dunker, senior center Logan Jones, graduate cornerback Jermari Harris and freshman punter Rhys Dakin earned AP second-team All-Big Ten honors.
In 11 games this season, Castro tallied 56 tackles, three tackles for loss, two passes defensed, one pass breakup and one interception.
Colby was part of an offensive line that was named to Joe Moore Award midseason honor roll. Colby’s contributions helped morph Johnson into a Doak Walker Award finalist and led the junior back to the Big Ten’s Ameche-Dayne Running Back of the Year award.
Johnson carried 240 times for 1,537 rushing yards. The Hamilton, Ohio, product set Hawkeye single-season records in points (138), total touchdowns (23) and rushing touchdowns (21).
Higgins owns a team-leading 118 total tackles and has also tallied six quarterback hurries, five pass breakups, four interceptions, 2.5 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. Higgins was recently recognized as the Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year.
Wetjen was honored as the Rodgers-Dwight Return Specialist of the Year after leading the nation with 888 combined kick return yards. The 5-foot-10 return specialist is second in the FBS in punt return yards (312) and sixth in kickoff return yards (576).
Wetjen had an 85-yard punt return touchdown in Iowa’s 40-14 win over Northwestern and he notched 100-plus return yardage in three straight games (Washington, Michigan State and Northwestern), which represents a first by a Hawkeye since at least 1978.
Dunker played and started 10 games for Iowa at right tackle. The 6-foot-5, 316 pound native of Lena, Ill., has now appeared in 33 games and started 24 over his Hawkeye career.
Jones has been another mainstay for Iowa up front. After switching from the defensive side of the football to the offensive line, Jones has played in and started 38 games over the past three seasons. The 6-foot-3, 293 pound center announced his return to Iowa for the 2025 season on Tuesday.
Harris played and started in 10 games this season for the Hawkeyes. The 6-foot-1, 189 pound corner totaled 27 tackles, seven pass breakups, three interceptions and one tackle for loss. Harris had a 28-yard pick-six in Iowa’s 38-21 win over Troy this season.
Dakin took over at punter and has been terrific for the Hawkeyes. The 6-foot-4, 225 pound freshman punter from Melbourne, Australia, punted 60 times for an average of 44.2 yards per punt.
Dakin had 16 punts of 50-plus yards, a long of 61 yards and saw 27 punts downed inside opponents’ 20-yard lines.
Iowa (8-4, 6-3 Big Ten) closes its 2024 season with its date against Missouri (9-3, 5-3 SEC) on Dec. 30 in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl from Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn.
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