Kirk Ferentz dissects Xavier Nwankpa’s humility, development with Iowa football

As he faces five-star expectations, Xavier Nwankpa has been the model of humility.

One of the most highly-anticipated players on the Iowa Hawkeyes this year resides in the secondary. Safety Xavier Nwankpa enters his third season with the Hawkeyes and many believe this could be his breakout year.

The former five-star recruit in the class of 2022 chose the Hawkeyes over the likes of Notre Dame, Texas A&M, Ohio State, and Alabama. He came out of South East Polk High School in Pleasant Hill, Iowa as the No. 1 ranked safety and No. 25 overall recruit per 247Sports.

With that recruiting profile, expectations are bound to follow. Today, Kirk Ferentz was asked about how Xavier Nwankpa is handling those expectations and growing from them.

“He’s doing great. I know five stars and all of that. We don’t get a lot of those, but you would never know with him in the building, five star, three star, two star. He’s a quality young guy, first and foremost. Really does a nice job that way,” Ferentz said during his press conference about how Nwankpa carries himself.

“It’s been fun to watch him improve each and every turn, so he’s really doing well. He dealt with a little bit of an injury or medical situation during camp, so he missed some time. He’s not maybe as far along as he would be in normal circumstances but has done a really good job and expect him to have a really good year this year,” added Ferentz.

Listed as the starting safety once again this year, Nwankpa will rely on the experience he gained in 2023 when he started 12 games.

Through two years, Xavier Nwankpa has appeared in 26 games with 13 starts. He has 54 total tackles with 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 5 pass deflections, 2 interceptions, and 1 touchdown.

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