• Donations
  • Advertise With Us

Free Hawkeye Sports Coverage

HawkFanatic Iowa Hawkeyes sports header logo
  • Football
    • Football
  • Football Recruiting
    • Football Recruiting
  • Basketball
    • Men’s Basketball
    • Women’s Basketball
    • Basketball Recruiting
  • Wrestling
    • Wrestling
    • Women’s Wrestling
    • Women’s Wrestling Recruiting
  • Sports+
    • Sports+
    • Baseball
    • Field Hockey
  • About
  • HF Podcast

Breaking News

Iowa soccer defeats Rutgers 1-0 at home
Top-ranked Iowa field hockey defeats Michigan State 3-1 at Grant Field
Cooper DeJean adds to his growing legend in dramatic win over Michigan State
2024 Illinois point guard Aaliyah Guyton commits to Iowa
Iowa offense fails to deliver yet again on big stage
Hawk-Fanatic-Iowa-Hawkeyes-hawk-logo

Football/ Football Recruiting

IL DE McKnight Chooses Hawkeyes

Pat HartyFollow @PatHarty Iowa Football, iowa-hawkeyes, iowa-recruiting, romeo-mcknight June 29, 2015

Tweet

Reese Morgan must be happy. Iowa is loading up at the position he coaches in this recruiting cycle.

Crystal Lake (IL) Central High Defensive End Romeo McKnight announced his commitment to Iowa Monday during a press conference at his school. He became the 18th known pledge in the 2016 Class and the fifth on the defensive line.

"I had a feeling since my first visit (to Iowa in late May) that’s kind of where I wanted to go. I just wanted to try to be patient and wanted to see a couple of schools. After visiting at the tailgate (June 20) again, I was ready to commit," McKnight said.

The 6-foot-5, 230-pound McKnight also reported scholarship offers from Ball State, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Illinois State, Miami (Ohio), Toledo, Western Illinois and Wyoming. He said he was hearing from Illinois and Purdue.

"I just thought Iowa was the best place for me to develop. I really like the coaches there. They’re genuine and great coaches. I like Coach (Chris) Doyle and Coach (Reese) Morgan. I thought it was the best place to develop and grow as a player," he said.

Rivals, Scout.com and 247 rank McKnight as a three-star recruit. He’s the No. 20 player overall in Illinois for ’16 per Rivals and Scout tabs him as the No. 14 defensive end in the Midwest Region. .

McKnight joins Cedrick Lattimore, Chauncey Golston, Austin Schulte and Brandon Simon as projected defensive ends in the Hawkeyes’ ’16 class. One or two of them could eventually move inside depending how their bodies develop in the next several years.

"I’m a competitor. I know a couple of them will move and see the field in different places. I might change from D-End. Anyone can switch positions. It wasn’t a factor for me. The more the better. They’re all great players and it will be great to practice with them. This is a good group of D-Linemen," McKnight said.

McKnight won a state wrestling championship last winter. The Hawkeyes have enjoyed success with high school grapplers on the gridiron.

"They’re really big on wrestlers as football players. They know what we can do as wrestlers. That was cool and they told me a lot about the players through the years that have wrestled well in high school and then played well for them," he said.

"It helps with leverage and playing low. It helps with using your hands. It helps with balance."

McKnight canceled visits in recent weeks to Toledo, Illinois and Purdue. The only schools he saw other than Iowa were Northern Iowa and Western Illinois.

"I think I’m done with visits. I don’t think I’m going to take anymore as of right now," he said.

After McKnight committed on Monday, defensive backs Cedric Boswell (Michigan) and Lance Billings (Ohio) pledged to Iowa, bringing the number of known commitments in the ’16 Class to 20. It was expected to get up to 25.

CLASS OF 2016 Verbals (Click on name for profile with game film & other offers)

QB Nate Stanley

RB Toren Young

DL Cedrick Lattimore

DL Chauncey Golston

OL Spencer Williams

OL Cole Banwart

LB Kyle Taylor

LB/RB Barrington Wade

S Amani Hooker

RB Toks Akinribade

LB Nick Niemann

TE T.J. Hockenson

DE Austin Schulte

LB Amani Jones

WR Devonte Young

WR Frank Darby

DE Brandon Simon

DE Romeo McKnight

CB Cedric Boswell

CB/S Lance Billings

Related Posts

Rapid Reaction

Football /

Rapid Reaction Podcast – Michigan State
Jovon Johnson, Jordan Canzeri Analysis

Nick Brooks

Football Recruiting /

Cedar Rapids Kennedy OL Nick Brooks commits to Iowa over elite schools including Alabama, Georgia

Brian Ferentz

Football /

Iowa fans send Kirk Ferentz loud, clear and sobering message

‹ Painter Recaps Iowa Official Visit› Harty: Bo Ryan’s plan to retire is good news for Iowa fans

HawkFanatic Podcast

  • Rapid ReactionRapid Reaction Podcast – Michigan State
    Jovon Johnson, Jordan Canzeri Analysis

  • Hotspot LogoHawkeye Hotspot Podcast 9-28-23
    Scott Dochterman, Rob Howe Talk Iowa Athletics

  • Mailbag LogoHF Mailbag Podcast 9-26-23
    Answering Your Hawkeye Questions

What are we worth to you?
To help us continue supplying FREE content, please consider donating here

Back to Top

 
HawkFanatic Iowa Hawkeyes logo
 
  • Home
  • Football
  • Football Recruiting
  • Basketball
  • Wrestling
  • Sports+
  • About
  • HF Podcast
  • Donations
  • Advertise With Us
© 2023 HawkFanatic | Website Design and Development by Vortex Business Solutions - All Rights Reserved | Contact Webmaster