Hawkeyes Recruiting Roundup: Tyrone Tracy, other top Iowa recruits continue stellar starts
Notable performances among Iowa football commits from across the country last week …
Tyrone Tracy, running back, Decatur Central (Ind.)
The 2018 all-purpose back has continued his early season tear through prep competition, maintaining outstanding production in last Friday’s 54-15 win over Martinsville. Tracy racked up 101 yards rushing and 105 yards receiving for the Hawks, averaging better than 200 total yards through four games as a versatile playmaker.
The 6-foot, 185-pound prospect remains projected as a receiver for the Hawkeyes, and showed that ability lining up wide and in the slot for two touchdown catches and rushing from the wingback spot for another score.
Tracy has been committed to Iowa since April and is performing like a player of the year candidate in Indiana this fall.
Samson Evans, quarterback, Prairie Ridge (Ill.)
Evans is another prospect Iowa anticipates at wide receiver who is performing well elsewhere at the prep level. The leader and playmaker behind the reigning Illinois state champions rushed for 121 yards and scored two touchdowns – one rushing, one passing – in another Friday night win with the Wolves. Evans saw most of his success handing the ball off behind Iowa offensive line recruit Jeff Jenkins, as Prairie Ridge’s running back found the end zone in six of his first nine touches.
Dillon Doyle, linebacker, Iowa City West
The 6-foot-3, 220-pound athlete was West’s top tackler in Friday’s thrilling 32-31 overtime win at the UNI-Dome over Cedar Falls. Doyle was credited with five solo and six assisted stops, including two behind the line of scrimmage. He also caught two passes for 31 yards as the Trojans erased a 17-point deficit to escape with a win.
Take Five:Two-point conversion caps Iowa City West's instant classic win
Henry Geil, running back, Green Bay Preble (Wis.)
The strong senior powered Preble to another win, rushing 31 times for 199 yards and two touchdowns against De Pere. Geil scored on runs of five and 37 yards, tearing holes through the defense with a spin move on the first touchdown and a dive straight up the middle on the second. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound prospect also lined up at quarterback in wildcat sets and completed the only short pass he threw.
News and notes
► Iowa picked up an early walk-on commitment last week from Seward, Neb., prospect Connor Ruth. The 6-foot, 215-pound senior projects as a fullback, according to Rivals. Ruth had 31 yards and one touchdown rushing and 61 yards and one touchdown receiving on Friday night, playing running back and linebacker for Seward High School.
The two fullbacks currently in Iowa’s depth chart began their careers as in-state walk-ons. Brady Ross and Drake Kulick both saw the field at Iowa State on Saturday, with Kulick, a Muscatine native, catching a career-high two passes for 29 yards.
► Iowa’s most recent Indianapolis recruit Julius Brents is a prized prospect who has been seen more by scouts in the offseason than in varsity action at powerhouse Warren Central. Rivals rates the 6-2 defensive back as a four-star, and 247Sports director of recruiting Steve Wiltfong had his head coach, Jayson West, on a podcast with Scout.com Midwest recruiting analyst Allen Trieu last week.
West spoke highly of Brents’ upside and athleticism to Wiltfong and Trieu, and said an 11-6 broad jump and 39-inch vertical jump were natural traits Iowa’s strength and conditioning program could build on.
“He’s actually really physical. He just grew in length,” West said of Brents. “We knew he was going to be very special. In the weight room, he still has a long way to go, and we’re never going to see the best of him, and that’s why a school like Iowa is good for him. At 21 or 22, he’s going to fill out and he’s going to have a program just for him, that they design just for him.”