By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Josey Jewell and Josh Jackson had as many recruiting stars combined coming out of high school (4) as most of the players on Ohio State’s roster had individually.

They both embody the spirit of Hawkeye football under Kirk Ferentz, proving that anything is possible with the right vision, the right work ethic and the right environment in which to thrive.

Jackson was the most heavily recruited of the two, but that’s only because the defensive back from Corinth, Texas had scholarship offers from Colorado State, New Mexico State and Nevada, in addition to Iowa.

Jewell, a linebacker from Decorah, picked Iowa over a partial scholarship from Northern Iowa and a chance to play for Division III Luther College, which is located in his hometown.

And little did we know upon their arrival at Iowa that both were destined for stardom in college.

It took Jackson longer than Jewell to achieve stardom, but they both now share the same grand stage as first-team All-Big Ten selections by the coaches and the media, and with even bigger accolades still to come.

The Big Ten Conference announced its three all-conference defensive squads on Tuesday, and the fact that Jewell and Jackson were both first-team selections by the coaches and the media was a no-brainer. An investigation would had to have been conducted if they weren’t first-team choices.

Sophomore defensive end Anthony Nelson was a third-team choice by the media, while senior defensive tackle Nathan Bazata and senior linebacker Ben Niemann were honorable mention selections by the coaches and the media.

Senior defensive back Miles Taylor is Iowa’s Sportsmanship Award recipient.

Six players with six different stories, but one thing in common in that none were ranked above a three-star recruit coming out of high school.

In fact, three of them – Jewell, Jackson and Niemann – were ranked as two-star recruits by Rivals.

Jewell was headed to either Northern Iowa or Luther until Iowa finally made an offer late in the recruiting process.

“I wasn’t that good out of high school,” Jewell said recently when asked about his two-star status. “It’s all about what you do here and how you take coaching. It’s been an amazing ride since then.”

Iowa defensive line coach Reese Morgan, who oversees the in-state recruiting, deserves credit for recognizing Jewell’s potential and convincing the head Hawk to take a chance on somebody who barely weighed 200 pounds coming out of high school.

“We were so close to not offering him a scholarship,” Kirk Ferentz said of Jewell. “We really went back and forth. Really, the deciding factor was the person that knew him the best on our staff was Reese Morgan. When Reese has a feeling about a player, it’s typically not wrong.”

Niemann was set to play receiver for Northern Illinois where his father was coaching at the time when he switched his commitment to Iowa and his position to linebacker.

Nelson also switched his commitment from Iowa State to Iowa, while Taylor was committed to Georgia Tech before switching to Iowa.

Nelson and Taylor were also the only ones among the six to have a power five scholarship offer from a school besides Iowa.

Bazata’s only other offer besides Iowa was from South Dakota State, according to Rivals.

The Howells, Neb., native supposedly wasn’t good enough to play for the home-state Cornhuskers, which is laughable with what we now know about Bazata and about Nebraska’s defense.

Bazata will leave Iowa as a three-year starter, while the Nebraska defense allowed at least 50 points in the last three games, including 56 against Iowa this past Friday.

Jewell and Jackson now both rank among the greatest players under Ferentz, which covers a lot of territory.

Jewell has been on steady ascent to greatness and has the honor and distinction of being the only three-year captain under Ferentz.

“The one fact I can give you that to me says it all: He will be our first three-time captain, and we've never had that,” Ferentz said “It's not like he campaigned for it. That was Josey being Josey.”

Jewell is a consistent and reliable force on the field, one of just three Iowa plays to make at least 115 tackles in three seasons.

It makes no sense that Jewell isn’t among the finalists for the Butkus Award, but those who vote for the Jack Lambert Award paid their respects by making Jewell their 2017 recipient.

Jackson, on the other hand, has sort of come out of nowhere to achieve stardom. His sudden rise is similar to former Iowa quarterback Brad Banks, who went from being a reserve in 2001 to the Heisman Trophy runner-up as a senior in 2002.

The only difference is that Banks didn’t project as an NFL quarterback, whereas Jackson does project as an NFL defensive back, with some mock drafts picking him to go as high as late in the first round.

Jewell and Niemann both seem capable of playing in the NFL, especially Jewell, and don’t rule out Bazata because he keeps proving that he had no limitations.

This season has been an emotional roller coaster because of so many inconsistencies, but the defense has been solid for the most part.

Most of Iowa’s problems have been on offense and on special teams.

The Big Ten also announced its special-teams awards on Tuesday and will announce its all-conference teams for offense on Wednesday, followed the by the individual awards on Thursday.

You could make a strong case for either Jewell or Jackson for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, although, Iowa’s five losses could hurt them.

Both players have defied the odds and added to Iowa’s reputation for identifying and developing unheralded talent.