Now, those same fans are getting a running back some Big Ten coaches are comparing to the former Wisconsin Heisman Trophy winner.
Brad Rogers, a 5-foot-10, 230-pounder from Toledo (Ohio) Catholic Central High School gave his non-binding, oral commitment to the Iowa coaching staff Monday, becoming the first player in the Class of 2009 to commit to the Hawkeyes.
“I’m a bruising running back. I’m a downhill runner,” Rogers said. “I can put a move on you, but if you see me coming full head, I’m probably going to run right at you.”
Rogers ran for 634 yards and 12 touchdowns in the first five games of his junior season before suffering an ankle injury that kept him on the sidelines for two weeks. When he returned, he didn’t play on offense the rest of the year. His high school coach, Greg Dempsey, said Rogers was well on his way earning conference player of the year honors before the injury.
Iowa was the only school to have offered Rogers a scholarship, though he was drawing interest from Michigan, Ohio State, Indiana, Northwestern, Toledo and Bowling Green. In the recruiting process, Dempsey said, coaches from some of those schools compared Rogers to Dayne and current Wisconsin back P.J. Hill.
“He’s a truck. He’s a truck with some speed,” Dempsey said. “He’s an aggressive runner. He’s a complete back. He can catch, block and run.”
Rogers, who also plays basketball and runs track at Catholic Central, wanted to get his commitment out of the way early. He visited Iowa’s campus last month and decided to announce his intentions Monday as a birthday present to his father.
“I went down there on junior day and really liked what I saw,” Rogers said. “The coaches were real nice. I just liked the atmosphere.”
The Hawkeyes brought in four running backs in this year’s recruiting class, two freshmen and two junior college transfers, including Shonn Greene, who played two seasons at Iowa before running into academic problems last summer. Walk-on sophomore Paki O’Meara was listed as the starter when spring practice wrapped up last week.
Iowa opens the 2008 season Aug. 30 against Maine.
Eric Page can be contacted at (563) 383-2277 or epage@qctimes.com.
Comments
KC Hawk wrote on May 5, 2008 9:09 PM:
" What kind of a recruit was Ron Dayne coming out of High School? I think he was pretty highly touted if I'm not mistaken. Should we compare a 1-star recruit to a Heisman Trophy winner? If only I had a dime for every time someone from Iowa compared an Iowa recruit to a past, star Iowa athelete or a star athelete from a more highly recognizable program. Let's see if the kid can even make it two years without leaving the program due to poor academics, trouble with the law, home sickness, injury, or any other reason, and even if he can get on the field, before we start comparing him to a former Heisman Trophy winner. "
