By Tyler Devine

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Ankeny defensive back Riley Moss was all set to play for FCS power North Dakota State until the opportunity to live his childhood dream came knocking.

Moss, a 2018 prospect, recently accepted a grey shirt offer from Iowa, meaning he will not receive a scholarship until 2019.

Moss said it was almost a no-brainer to accept Iowa’s offer.

“Not too much (thought had to go into it),” Moss said. “It was more of thinking about the pros and cons of North Dakota State and Iowa.

“It’s a dream come true. It was my dream school and being able to walk out of that tunnel would be insane.”

The 6-foot, 175-pound Moss always had Iowa atop his list of schools, even when Iowa did not appear to be recruiting him.

The lack of attention didn’t deter Moss from wanting to be a Hawkeye over scholarship offers from North Dakota State, North Dakota, Northern Illinois and South Dakota State.

“Before this all began it was at the top of my list in terms of places I wanted to play,” Moss said. “I grew up a Hawkeye fan. We had season tickets for years and I went to my first game when I was two (years old).”

As a grey shirt, Moss cannot join the team until after his first semester as a full-time student.

Current Iowa safety Noah Clayberg is Iowa’s most recent grey-shirt recruit.

Clayberg, a native of Pella, enrolled at Iowa last fall and joined the football team in the spring of 2017.

The 5-foot-11, 209-pound Clayberg has played sparingly on special teams and in cleanup duty this season.