Lack of Iowa Contact Puzzles Heinrich
ADDISON, Ill. – Jake Heinrich enjoyed a pair of strong combine showings the last few weekends. The Urbandale (IA) offensive lineman was named the Rivals Cleveland position MVP on April 26. He followed it up Saturday by making the final group at The Opening Chicago Regional here at Addison Trail High.
Heinrich ranks as one of his state’s top prospects in the 2016 Class. Rivals.com rates him as a three-star and the 29th best guard in the country. Scout.com has him as a four-star, the 17th best player at his position and the 299th player overall nationally.
Ten schools have offered a scholarship to the 6-foot-4, 285-pounder. California, Duke, Illinois, Iowa State, Kansas State and Louisville were the Power 5 schools that had extended an opportunity.
One puzzling aspect of Heinrich’s recruitment is the relationship with Iowa. The Hawkeyes are known nationally as one of the top offensive line schools in the country.
"At this point, I really haven’t heard from Iowa much of late," Heinrich said. "I haven’t seen any mail from them for a while. I’ve been trying to contact Coach (Seth) Wallace on Twitter or Brian Ferentz. I’m not sure where they stand. I’d like to try to talk to them again sometime soon but I really can’t control it at this point."
Heinrich camped at Iowa and took part in the recruiting tailgater last summer. He attended a game in the fall and then a junior day this winter. He said he understood not yet getting a Hawkeye offer but not receiving mail or being able to contact coaches confused him.
"At this point, I don’t really understand why but it’s a little odd. I’m very familiar with the coaches and the program. I feel like I’ve shown them what I can do. Obviously, they’ve seen my game film. They’ve seen me in camp. It’s kind of just wait and see at this point," he said.
Iowa wasn’t expected to add more than two or three offensive linemen this cycle after signing five of them in the ’15 Class, including four from the state. It’s only offered one in-state player overall in ’16, West Des Moines Valley lineman John Raridon, a Nebraska verbal.
For Heinrich, while puzzled by Iowa’s lack of contact, he’s not allowing it to dampen his spirits.
"At this point, I’m up to 10 offers. I’m very pleased with each and every one of them. So, I’m not really stressing about anything right now. I’m just letting things play out; really not in a hurry right now," he said.
"I’ve gotten a few follows from the Michigan State coaches. I’m looking to connect with them. I spoke with the Penn State coach on the phone (last week). I’ve talked to a few schools that said they’d like to see me at camp; like to work me out, show me around campus and hopefully earn an offer but at this point I haven’t set anything in stone."
Iowa State has continued building a strong relationship with Heinrich. The Cyclones were the first school to offer him a scholarship.
"They’re able to come into my school and talk to my head coach. They were able to talk to me during the spring evaluation period. I’ve made the most visits up there; took in a spring practice a few weekends ago. I’m still talking to them a lot. I’ll probably take in a game next year. I haven’t’ decided on my officials yet but I will also be doing that sometime soon," he said.