All you need to know about Iowa’s 2022 recruiting class
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa football team signed 17 players during the early signing period on Wednesday, including five recruits that picked Iowa on Wednesday.
The class also includes four defensive backs highlighted by five-star safety Xavier Nwankpa from Southeast Polk. He picked Iowa over Ohio State and Notre Dame.
There will also be a second signing day on the first Wednesday in February.
Here is a closer look at each of the recruits that signed with Iowa on Wednesday.
Iowa’s 2022 recruiting class
Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Hometown High School
Brian Allen DE 6-4 250 Fr. Lake in the Hills, Ill. St. Thomas More, Conn.
Jacob Bostick WR 6-2 170 Fr. Palatine, Ill. Palatine
Caden Crawford DL 6-4 250 Fr. Lansing, Kan. Lansing
Jack Dotzler OL 6-6 260 Fr. Waunakee, Wis. Waunakee (DOAT-zler)
Koen Entringer DB 6-2 195 Fr. Ypsilanti, Mich. Walled Lake Western
(CO-uhn EN-tring-ur)
Aaron Graves DL 6-5 275 Fr. Dayton, Iowa Southeast Valley
TJ Hall DB 6-0 170 Fr. Fresno, Calif. San Joaquin Memorial
Kaleb Johnson RB 6-1 210 Fr. Hamilton, Ohio Hamilton
Kale Krogh OL 6-5 270 Fr. Huxley, Iowa Ballard (CROWG)
Carson May QB 6-4 215 Fr. Jones, Okla. Jones
Jayden Montgomery LB 6-0 225 Fr. Suamico, Wis. Bay Port
Xavier Nwankpa DB 6-2 190 Fr. Pleasant Hill, Iowa Southeast Polk (WAUM-puh)
Addison Ostrenga TE 6-4 220 Fr. Sun Prairie, Wis. Sun Prairie (oh-STRAIN-Guh)
Jaziun Patterson RB 5-11 185 Fr. Pompano, Beach, Fla. Deerfield Beach (JAZZ-ee-un)
Olando Trader DB 6-0 185 Fr. Jackson, Mich. Jackson
Cael Vanderbush TE 6-5 205 Fr. Plainfield, Ind. Plainfield
Landyn Van Kekerix LB 6-2 205 Fr. Inwood, Iowa Boyden Hull/Rock Valley
(KECK-ur-x
Committed walk-ons
Carter Erickson DB 6-0 185 Fr. Indianola, Iowa Indianola Eric Kluver
Graham Friedrichsen WR 6-2 185 Fr. Urbandale, Iowa Urbandale Sam Anderson
Luke Gaffney DL 6-2 250 Fr. Robins, Iowa Linn-Mar Tim Lovell
Will Hubert DL 6-3 245 Fr. Omaha, Neb. Papillion-La Vista Tim Williams
Kael Kolarik DB 6-0 205 Fr. Indianola, Iowa Indianola Eric Kluver
Andrew Kraus DL 6-5 225 Fr. Barrington, Ill. Barrington Joe Sanchez
Drew Stevens K 6-0 175 Fr. North Augusta, S.C. North Augusta Jim Bob Bryant
Kyson Van Vugt TE 6-7 230 Fr. Hull, Iowa Western Christian Travis Kooima
Dominic Wiseman DL 6-0 265 Fr. Davenport, Iowa North Adam Hite
Indvidual capsules
Koen Entringer, DB, 6-2, 195, Ypsilanti, Michigan: He grew up in Arizona playing mostly soccer, and has only played two years of high school football. Iowa liked what it saw on film and made an offer. A three-star prospect, he picked Iowa over offers from Wisconsin, Michigan, Boston College, Notre Dame, Utah, Colorado, Maryland, Syracuse and Vanderbilt among others.
Olando Trader, DB, 6-0, 185, Jackson, Michigan: He signed with Iowa after having been previously committed to Central Michigan. He also had a offer from Nebraska and Vanderbilt, according to Rivals.
T.J. Hall, DB, 6-0, 170, Fresno, California: Previously committed to Washington, he was among five players that picked Iowa on signing day. He is also one of few California natives to sign with Iowa under Kirk Ferentz.
Brian Allen, DE/OLB, Lake in the Hills, Illinois, 6-4, 250: He was previously committed to Illinois, but flipped to Iowa on signing day. He is ranked as a four-star recruit by Rivals as a strongside defensive end. He attended a prep school in Connecticut.
Landyn Van Kekerix, Athlete, 6-2, 195: He was a late addition, committing on signing day. He is listed as an athlete by Rivals and could projet as a linebacker or defensive back. He picked Iowa over offers from South Dakota and South Dakota State.
Xavier Nwankpa, DB, Pleasant Hill, Iowa, 6-2, 190: He is ranked as the No. 1 safety in the 2022 senior class by Rivals and 21st overall in the class. He has at least 31 scholarship offers and is one of the most decorated recruits to pick Iowa under Kirk Ferentz.
Kaleb Johnson, RB, Hamilton, Ohio, 6-1, 210: He picked Iowa over scholarship offers from Iowa State, Cincinnati and California, to whom he previously was committed. He committed to Cal in June before switching to Iowa in October. He is one of three four-star recruits in the class.
His 5.8 rating by Rivals is the second highest in the class behind Nwankpa’s 6.1 rating.
Cael Vanderbush, TE, Plainfield, Indiana, 6-6, 200: He is ranked as a three-star recruit and was previously committed to Western Michigan. He is the latest in a long line of recruits that signed with Iowa after having been committed to a school in the Mid-American Conference.
Jaziun Patterson, RB, Deerfield Beach, Florida, 5-10, 182: He probably has the second most impressive list of scholarship offers in the class behind Nwankpa.
The schools that have offered Patterson include Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Auburn, Florida State, Michigan, Nebraska, Penn State and Texas A&M among about two dozen others.
Patterson is the 26th-best running back in the 2022 class, according to Rivals.
Jacob Bostick, WR, Palentine, Illinois, 6-2, 165: He has at least 21 scholarship offers, including one from playoff bound Cincinnati. He took official visits to Cincinnati, Louisville and Illinois before picking Iowa. He is ranked by Rivals as the 76th best wide receiver in the 2022 class.
Carson May, QB, Jones, Oklahoma, 6-5, 220: Ranked by Rivals as the 15th best pro-style quarterback in the 2022 class, May is sort of late bloomer. He climbed to a four-star recruit after committing to Iowa, but his only other reported scholarship offers are from Old Dominion and Western Michigan.
Kirk Ferentz hasn’t recruited many players from the state of Oklahoma, but his staff has a knack for finding hidden gems, and they obviously like what they see in May to have been his only Power 5 offer.
The addition of May will help to offset the loss of redshirt freshman quarterback Deuce Hogan, who has entered the transfer portal.
Kale Krogh, OL, Huxley, Iowa, 6-6, 267: Ranked by Rivals as the best fifth instate recruit in the 2022 class, he appears destined to play tackle for Iowa.
He had at least 14 scholarship offers, including two Power 5 offers from Iowa and Minnesota.
Jayden Montgomery, LB, Suamico, Wisconsin, 5-11, 215: He is the son of former Iowa defensive lineman and current Green Bay Packers defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery.
Iowa is his only Power 5 scholarship offer and the concern with Montgomery is a lack of size. But he compensates with speed and aggression, and he fits the Iowa chip-on-the-shoulder mentality under Kirk Ferentz in many ways.
Addison Ostrenga, TE, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, 6-4, 220: The fact that he previously was committed to the Iowa baseball team as an outfielder before accepting Iowa’s scholarship offer as a tight end in football speaks volumes about his athletic ability.
Jack Dotzler, OL, Waunakee, Wisconsin, 6-7, 265: He has an impressive offer list that includes Iowa, Penn State, Indiana, Purdue, Michigan State, Iowa State and Arizona State.
The one noticeable absence, however, is the home-state Badgers.
Dotzler has the frame to weigh well over 300 pounds, and he seems best suited to play offensive tackle.
Caden Crawford, DE, Lansing, Kansas, 6-5, 250: He only reports to have five scholarship offers, but it’s an impressive short list with Iowa, Kansas State, Minnesota, Nebraska and Oklahoma State all having offered. He committed to Iowa this past June 25, and exactly two years after Graves had committed.
Aaron Graves, DE, Gowrie, Iowa, 6-5, 270: Iowa is his only scholarship offer according to Rivals, but that is due to having committed at such a young age. Graves is now ranked as the 132nd best recruit in the 2022 senior class an 11th best nationally at his position.
Rivals also ranks him the second best instate recruit behind Nwankpa.
Star breakdown
Five-star: Xavier Nwankpa
Four-star: Brian Allen, Aaron Graves, Kaleb Johnson, Carson May
Three-star: Cael Vanderbush, Jaziun Patterson, Addison Ostrenga, Jacob Bostick, Cale Krogh, Jack Dotzler, Caden Crawford, Olando Trader, Keon Entringer, T.J. Hall.
Two-star: Jayden Montgomery, Landyn Van Kekerix
Iowa recruits by state
California (1)
TJ Hall
Florida (1)
Jaziun Patterson
Illinois (2)
Brian Allen
Jacob Bostick
Indiana (1)
Cael VandebushIowa (4)
Aaron Graves
Kale Krogh
Xavier Nwankpa
Landyn Van Kekerix
Kansas (1)
Caden Crawford
Michigan (2)
Koen Entringer
Olando Trader
Oklahoma (1)
Carson May
Ohio (1)
Kaleb Johnson
Wisconsin (3)
Jack Dotzler
Jayden Montgomery
Addison Ostrenga
Iowa recruits by position
Defensive Line (3)
Brian Allen
Caden Crawford
Aaron Graves
Defensive Back (4)
Koen Entringer
TJ Hall
Xavier Nwankpa
Olando Trader
Linebacker (2)
Jayden Montgomery
Landyn Van Kekerix
Quarterback (1)
Carson May
Running Back (2)
Kaleb Johnson
Jaziun Patterson
Offensive Line (2)
Jack Dotzler
Kale Krogh
Wide Receiver (1)
Jacob Bostick
Tight End (2)
Addison Ostrenga
Cael Vanderbush