By Tyler Devine

IOWA CITY, Iowa – It has been just over a year since 2021 forward Payton Sandfort received a scholarship offer from Iowa.

Since then, Utah, Drake, Air Force and Minnesota have also extended offers to the Waukee, Iowa native.

The 6-foot-6, 195-pound Sandfort said he is eyeing a decision this fall, but isn’t setting it in stone due to the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I don’t have a definitive answer for you,” Sandfort said. “With everything changing in the world I could see it going a bunch of different ways. But, as of now, the plan is the same but I could definitely see it changing if circumstances change.”

Sandfort said that Iowa, Utah and Drake are his favorite schools currently.

He has taken two unofficial visits to Iowa and an official visit to Utah.

Sandfort said that he has also gotten interest from Stanford and Colorado, but not being able to play in tournaments with his Kingdom Hoops AAU team has limited his exposure.

“I think, in terms of the amount of schools that would have offered, I think it was pretty substantial,” Sandfort said. “Just because of the fact that a lot of schools hadn’t seen me play and they were planning on coming to watch, but without those periods – not many schools offer straight from film, so I think that hurt it a little bit. But I still have a lot of great options so I can’t really complain.”

Being an in-state recruit, Sandfort said it’s tough not to jump at the opportunity to play for a major conference school a short drive away, especially when he has family members who are Hawkeye fans.

“I always tell everybody that the majority of the recruiting comes from my classmates and uncles and stuff like that,” Sandfort said. “As much as Fran and them call me, it can’t measure up to the birthdays and all that sort of stuff at school. It’s definitely tempting and it would be a really cool spot.”