About a month ago, there was a panic among the Iowa fanbase. They had been heavily linked with five-star offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor, and when the Hawkeyes were not listed as one of his summer visits, it blindsided fans.
The panic was premature, though. Recently, Proctor cancelled his other summer visits, added a final visit to Iowa City and narrowed his potential college choices down to Iowa and Alabama.
Now, Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney and national recruiting analyst Clint Cosgrove both believe that it is Iowa’s race to win. The pair listed it as “fact” that the Hawkeyes should be considered as the team to beat for Proctor.
Counting out Alabama is foolish, but I still think Iowa is in the best position by far to land the five-star offensive lineman. Proctor sort of messed around with his official visit schedule before – putting Arkansas State on it for example – but now that he’s focused on only Alabama and Iowa it puts his recruitment in focus again. The Crimson Tide have done such a good job developing players across the board, but Iowa has done a great job with offensive linemen. It’s the in-state school, his friend and teammate, Xavier Nwankpa, plays there and Proctor could be the next Tristan Wirfs in Iowa City. That’s probably too much to turn down. – Gorney, Rivals.
Cosgrove echoed those sentiments, highlighting Proctor’s relationship with Nwankpa as one of the primary reasons why he’s confident the ultimate decision is the Hawkeyes.
Proctor has now canceled all of his other official visits and announced that Iowa and Alabama are the final two in his recruitment. While I see Alabama having a chance here, my gut says Proctor stays home with the goal of building something special with Nwankpa. – Cosgrove, Rivals.
It should be a great feeling for any Hawkeye fan to know that Iowa is in a two-school race for a prospect with Alabama. Iowa has never traditionally been a recruiting powerhouse, typically developing and elevating talent.
However, now Iowa has a chance to get a premium player at a position they specialize in. It shows a trend of Iowa focusing more on recruiting than in past years. Five-star saftey Xavier Nwankpa showed a potential turning point for Iowa as a destination school, and a big time recruitment such as Proctor would be a massive statement to the rest of college football.
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