By Dallas Jones

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa football team is in the running for one of the top in-state prospects in recent memory.

Five-star 2022 defensive back Xavier Nwankpa included Iowa in his top three schools Saturday, along with Ohio State and Notre Dame.

Other offers include Arizona State, Clemson and LSU.

The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Nwankpa is currently ranked as the No. 1 safety and 14th-ranked player in the country per Rivals.com.

Iowa was one of the first schools to make contact with the Southeast Polk star and offered the defensive back in October of 2019.

Nwankpa has another visit to Iowa City planned for Oct. 9, when Iowa faces fourth-ranked Penn State in what could be the biggest game in Kinnick stadium in the last 15 years.

The visit will also mark Nwankpa’s seventh visit to the school over the last two years.