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Fertile ground: Instate prospects could change Hawkeyes' fortunes

By Eric Page | 13 comment(s)

Sioux City Heelan running back Brandon Wegher has offers from 12 schools. As a junior last fall, the 5-foot-11, 192-pounder ran for 2,334 yards and 34 touchdowns. (Contributed photo)

Start throwing around names like Tim Dwight and Robert Gallery, and you’ll hear a lot of University of Iowa football fans get really excited about the past.

Now, mention those names when talking about the future and Hawkeye backers might just drop their corn.

Hold on tight.

The state of Iowa’s high school class of 2009 is as top-heavy with football talent as anyone can remember, ripe with individual potential that has evoked comparisons to Gallery and Dwight, former Hawkeye All-Americans from instate.

For Iowa fans who grew tired of watching the Big Ten’s least productive offense last season, help might just be on the way.

Mammoth West Des Moines Valley offensive tackle David Barrent already has verbally committed to Iowa. Three others — Cedar Rapids Washington wide receiver Keenan Davis, Sioux City Heelan running back Brandon Wegher and Mt. Pleasant athlete Jordan Cotton — will give Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz a chance to upgrade his offense next spring without even leaving his own backyard.

“I’ve been doing this 30 years, and I can’t remember a group like that,” Midwest recruiting analyst Tom Lemming said. “They’ve had better overall groups but not where they’ve had four potential All-Americans coming out at once. If they got all four, they’d be in business. It would make a strong statement that Iowa is still king in Iowa.”

Yeah, you read that right. He said “potential All-Americans.” That’s a dangerous statement about a group that won’t go through two-a-days for another 14 months. Lemming said the same thing about Ferentz’s 2005 recruiting class, which, led by quarterback Jake Christensen, ranked as the ninth best in the nation coming in but to date has been a disappointment on the field.

Recruiting, though, is all about projection. It’s a hit-and-miss business, a guessing game, even for the coaches.

This group figures to have more hits than misses.

Barrent, a 6-foot-8, 290-pounder whom Lemming compares to Gallery, committed early because he liked Iowa’s engineering program. He’s been rated a top 150 prospect nationally by Web site Rivals.com and, said Valley coach Gary Swenson, will be vastly improved when he takes the field in the fall.

“He’s just really starting to fill out and figure out what he has to do to be effective on the field,” Swenson said. “It’s all leverage, and in high school, kids like David, at his size, have a hard time with that. It took him until Week 10 last fall to figure out the leverage. Once he did, boy oh boy … ”

Davis also has been rated in the top 150 by Rivals. The 6-3, 195-pounder is an explosive wideout with great hands, said Washington coach Tony Lombardi.

“When he’s got the ball in his hands after the catch, he’s spectacular,” Lombardi said. “He’s a legitimate threat to take it to the house every time he touches the ball. Not so much because he’ll run by you, but because he’ll make you miss or run you over.”

A sprinter on the track in the spring, Davis has improved his 40 time from the 4.6 range last fall to the mid-4.4s. Naturally, after pulling in 81 catches for almost 1,200 yards as a junior, he is drawing comparisons to former Washington receiver Adrian Arrington, who spurned the Hawkeyes in favor of Big Ten rival Michigan back in 2004.

Washington coaches who were around the program when Arrington played say Davis is better — that it’s not even close.

“Adrian was kind of the guy I looked up to when I was in sixth and seventh grade,” Davis said. “I always wanted to be like that. More and more, I want to be better than him.”

At this point, Davis isn’t sure where he’ll end up, but he has his list trimmed to five schools he will visit — Iowa, Illinois, Oklahoma, Colorado and Arizona State — and plans to make his decision in the fall.

The Hawkeyes got a big lift when Erik Campbell, Arrington’s position coach at Michigan, came aboard as receivers coach this spring. Turns out, the Campbells and the Davises are old family friends.

“He is one of the funniest people I’ve ever met,” Davis said of Campbell, whose father coached Davis’ father in high school track. “He has a great personality and is just a fun person to be around.

“He has coached some really good receivers, some really great receivers. I know he’s one of the best receivers coaches in the country, so I know he could help me with what I want to do.”

Wegher is the one who beckons images of Dwight speeding down the sidelines at Kinnick Stadium.

The 5-11, 192-pounder has world-class speed on the track — 10.7 in the 100 meters — and knows his way around the football field, too. He ran for 2,334 yards and scored 34 touchdowns as a junior while leading Heelan to an 11-2 record and a runner-up finish in Class 3A.

“He’s fast, but he can be physical, too,” Heelan coach Roger Jansen said. “He’s not afraid to run inside. With his speed and his vision of the field, I’ve never seen anything like it. He can cut it back and be gone. He reminds me a lot of Tim Dwight.”

He reminds a lot of people of a lot of people good, which is why his offer list reads like a who’s who of college football. Arkansas, Auburn, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Penn State, Texas Tech and Wisconsin all have scholarships on the table.

Wegher is taking his time.

“I want to narrow it down this summer, but if I can’t, then I’ll just continue with it until I find the school that’s right for me,” he said. “I’ll take a look at all the colleges I’m interested in, see what they have to offer and narrow it down from there.”

Of all of them, Cotton seems the most ready, and perhaps the most destined, to head to Iowa City. His father, Marshall, came out of Davenport Central and played at Iowa in the mid-1980s, and Jordan grew up a Hawkeyes fan.

But after rushing for 1,449 yards and 17 touchdowns as a running back last season, Cotton, who projects as a receiver in college, has drawn a lot of attention. In addition to Iowa, he plans to visit Kansas, Wisconsin and Iowa State before committing in the fall.

“Right now, Iowa is my No. 1 school,” Cotton said. “I just want to get out there and see what the other schools are like. I want to see what the other schools have to offer. It’s going to take a lot for them to overpass Iowa. But you never know. It’s just wherever I’m comfortable.”

The thought of Cotton lined up at receiver opposite Davis, with Barrent anchoring the line and Wegher in the backfield is no doubt a comforting one to Iowa fans desperate for offense, desperate for the success that has been missing the past two seasons as the Hawkeyes have struggled to a 12-13 record.

And, based on potential alone, it’s a decidedly uncomfortable image for opposing coaches to consider.

“That would open a lot of eyes,” Cotton said. “To have four guys from Iowa — we’d be like hometown heroes. It would be really sweet to have us all together working in the same offense. We’re all elite athletes. It would be really tough to stop.”

THE FAB FOUR
The top four football prospects in the state of Iowa's class of 2009 with commentary from Midwest recruiting analyst Tom Lemming:
David Barrent				Keenan Davis
Position: Offensive line				Position: Wide receiver
Height: 6-foot-8				Height: 6-foot-3
Weight: 290 pounds				Weight: 195 pounds
Hometown: West Des Moines				Hometown: Cedar Rapids
High school: Valley				High school: Washington
Rivals rating: ****				Rivals rating: ****
Other sport: Track and field (shot put/discus)				Other sports: Basketball, track and field (sprints/high jump)
Of note: Helped lead Valley to an 11-1 record and a berth in the Class 4A state semifinals in 2007				Of note: Had 81 receptions for 1,160 yards and 12 touchdowns on his way to first-team Class 4A all-state honors as a junior
The favorite: Verbally committed to Iowa				The favorites: Iowa, Illinois, Oklahoma, Colorado, Arizona State
Other offers: Iowa State, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Illinois				Other offers: Cincinnati, Kansas, Nebraska, Wisconsin
Barrent on Iowa: "I'm really excited. I'm fully committed. I can't wait to be there."				Davis on Iowa: “My parents want me to go to the closest place so they can see me whenever they want, and all my friends go to Iowa. So, that would be nice. It sounds nice, but I’ve got to do what’s best for me.”
Lemming says: “He has great size and great feet. He's kind of a Robert Gallery-type guy, but Gallery was only 235 pounds coming out of high school. He could be a monster. If he keeps his quickness and agility, Iowa could have its next great offensive tackle.”				Lemming says: “Keenan has a good body for a wide receiver. He’s a strong kid. He has good hands and good leaping ability. He could be a go-to receiver. He’s an acrobatic guy and catches everything within reach.”
Brandon Wegher				Jordan Cotton
Position: Running back				Position: Wide receiver
Height: 5-foot-11				Height: 6-foot-1
Weight: 192 pounds				Weight: 170 pounds
Hometown: Sioux City				Hometown: Mt. Pleasant
High School: Bishop Heelan				High school: Mt. Pleasant
Rivals rating: ****				Rivals rating: ***
Other sport: Track and field (sprints)				Other sports: Basketball, track and field (sprints)
Of note: Ran for 2,334 yards and scored 34 touchdowns while leading Heelan to the Class 3A state title game and earning first-team all-state honors				Of note: Was a Class 3A first-team all-state running back after running for 1,449 yards and 17 touchdowns; son of former Davenport Central and Iowa player Marshall Cotton
The favorites: None				The favorite: Iowa
Offers: Arkansas, Auburn, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Penn State, Texas Tech, Wisconsin				Other offers: Iowa State, Kansas, Wisconsin, Colorado
Wegher on Iowa: “I really like Iowa. They’re really taking the time in recruiting me. ... I know they really need running backs. I think it would be a great opportunity for me.”				Cotton on Iowa: “I look at it as we can go in there and help them build it back up. I can see them in a couple years being real good. Hopefully, they can compete for a Big Ten championship, possibly even a national championship.”
Lemming says: “I think he’s something special. ... He’s perfect for a spread offense. He’s got great hands, and he can run. I know he wants to stay at running back, but he could probably be an All-American safety.”				Lemming says: “Jordan could wind up being the best of all four. He can run. Once he settles on one position, he could be the best of any of them. As far as athletic ability, no one’s better in the entire state. He’s one of the best pure athletes in the Midwest.”

Contact Eric Page at (563) 383-2277 or epage@qctimes.com.

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