Joe Hess has visited Iowa on many occasions. He’s grown comfortable with its surroundings and coaches.

The Mount Pleasant (IA) High quarterback won’t allow himself to get to attached to the Hawkeyes, however. While he’s optimistic, he’s also realistic.

Iowa gained a verbal commitment from a signal caller in the 2016 class in December when Wisconsin’s Nate Stanley pledged to the program. After grabbing quarterbacks Ryan Boyle and Drew Cook in the previous cycle, it seemed unlikely they’d take two guys at the position this go-around.

"I love the (Iowa) coaches and I love how close it is and so does my family. But with the commitment of Nate Stanley we’ve started exploring my options with other schools a lot more. But it’s a great school. And a great program with rich in tradition," the 6-foot-5, 215-pound lefty said.

Hess returned to Iowa City last Saturday for the Hawkeyes open spring scrimmage at Kinnick Stadium. He focused on quarterback play and felt he’d be a good fit for the system.

"I strongly consider myself a pure pocket passer and the offensive coach (Greg) Davis is running hardly, if not ever, forces the quarterback to leave the pocket unless it’s a play-action roll-out. And I love that type of offense," Hess said.

Several Hawkeye coaches spoke with Hess.

"Their main message was for me to come to camp and have a great senior year. I talked to Coach (Kirk) Ferentz after the scrimmage and he thanked me for coming. He said he’s looking forward to seeing me at camp and how I do this year on the field," Hess said.

As a junior, Hess completed 96 of 163 passes for 1,543 yards and 15 touchdowns against six interceptions.

In addition to a camp stop at Iowa, Hess said he would be at Minnesota, Iowa State, Northern Iowa, Missouri, Eastern Michigan and Kansas State this summer. He said he also might get to Rutgers.