Two new 2024 Iowa football recruiting predictions

Recruiting never stops, but there are some months that are certainly busier than others. That’s the case with the month of June for college football coaches. Between the arrival of first year and returning players, summer camps, and official visits, this is always a very active month on the recruiting trail.

The Hawkeyes will be hosting their big official visit weekend coming up in a few short weeks with several commits and top targets on campus. With that in mind, there’s always a feeling that some prospects should be on commitment watch.

Right now, Iowa sits at 11 verbal pledges in the Class of 2024. That’s right about where you would expect them to be. Based on past experience, we should see another spike in recruiting activity between now and the start of fall camp in August.

With that in mind, based on intel on the recruiting front and decision time frames being discussed, I have put in a couple of predictions this past weekend for two significant targets for the Hawkeyes in the Class of 2024.

First, I have put in a prediction of Reese Vander Zee to Iowa. The 6-foot-5 wide receiver from Rock Rapids, IA, completed an official visit to Iowa State and recently picked up a scholarship offer from Nebraska. During the recruiting process, he has visited Iowa and Kansas State twice, with a third one to Iowa City coming up later this month. His official visit to Ames was his second trip there.

The On3 Prediction Machine has him now at 97.3% confidence to Iowa based on my prediction, which I set at 75% and the prediction from Blair Sanderson that he made earlier this year, also at 75%.

Central Lyon High School has been good to Iowa over the years and Van Zee is being recruited at a position of need for the Hawkeyes. Last season, he caught 32 passes for 768 yards and 10 touchdowns.

The second prediction logged this weekend was for Jaylen Watson to the Hawkeyes. The 5-foot-10 athlete recently relocated to Toledo, OH and has offers from Iowa, Cincinnati, Minnesota, Louisville, Maryland, and West Virginia.

The Hawkeyes offered Watson a scholarship last week and they immediately moved to the top of his list of schools. While some schools are looking at him as a wide receiver, Iowa is recruiting him as a defensive back. Iowa’s connection is also pretty strong due to the fact that his uncle is former Hawkeye standout running back Fred Russell.

My entry in the Prediction Machine is at 75% and overall, the On3 Prediction Machine has Watson as a 95.5% chance to pick the Hawkeyes.

There are also a couple of other players that will be making an official visit that we are going to be monitoring and potentially log a prediction for Iowa in the coming weeks. The first is Jalen Todd, a 6-foot-1 cornerback from Michigan. The On3 Prediction Machine currently has him at 81% for the Hawkeyes.

Another player to watch is athlete KJ Parker from Elmhurst, IL. He is being recruited as a wide receiver and one of his high school coaches is former Iowa safety Matt Bowen. The On3 Prediction Machine has him at 55% to Iowa.

The post Two new 2024 Iowa football recruiting predictions appeared first on On3.