Scratching your head?
It actually makes a lot of sense.
Kansas City’s Nate Scheelhaase, rated the second best scrambling signal-caller in the land by recruiting Web site Rivals.com, and Connecticut’s Jordan Reed, a bullish, Terrelle Pryor-type hybrid, both have family ties to the Hawkeye state.
Scheelhaase was born in Davenport and spent some of his youth in Des Moines and Iowa City. His father, Nate Creer, played defensive back on the Hawkeyes’ 1985 Big Ten championship team.
Reed, who was raised by his mother on the East Coast, has a father and an entire extended family in Dubuque.
“I’ve always been a fan of Iowa, always since I was young,” said Reed, a 6-foot-3, 235-pounder who clocks in at 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash. “I’ve been talking to Coach (Ken) O’Keefe a lot. I’m going to try to visit out there this summer.”
Scheelhaase and Reed both are rated as 4-star prospects, and they have the kind of offer lists you’d expect. Reed: Florida, Oregon, Tennessee, Penn State, Boston College, Syracuse, UConn, Maryland and Duke. And Scheelhaase: Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Ole Miss, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Stanford and Wake Forest.
Reed has gained attention in a hurry this spring. As a junior, he threw for 1,706 yards and 28 touchdowns against only two interceptions. And he ran for 570 yards and another eight scores.
His guardian, Tommie Majors, said Reed likely will decide between Iowa, Florida and Penn State, but not until the fall. With all the interest, Reed probably is a long shot, but he said he would like to play at Iowa in front of his family.
Scheelhaase, on the other hand, might have more drawing him to Iowa City.
He grew up with Jordan Cotton, a football standout at Mt. Pleasant (Iowa), whose father, Marshall, played with Creer at Iowa. Cotton, an Iowa recruit, and Scheelhaase have remained close, trading text messages daily, and plan to spend a few weeks together later this summer working out in Kansas City. They also are planning visits to schools together.
“I’ve known Jordan since I can remember,” Scheelhaase said. “It would definitely be cool to play with someone I’ve known like that. We’ll see what decision he makes, and we’ll see what happens.”
Scheelhaase threw for 1,861 yards and 20 touchdowns with only five interceptions while adding 917 yards and 14 scores on the ground last season. He said he wants to commit before his senior year.
“I’m looking for a program where I’ll be comfortable on campus, comfortable with the coaches, someplace I can see myself playing in the future,” he said. “Iowa was my first offer, so that means something to me. And my dad played there, so that’s something that is cool with it. I feel really comfortable there. I like the campus a lot. It’s a good school. I definitely do like Iowa. It’s a solid school.”
| DANGEROUS DUO | |||||||
| Two talented dual-threat quarterbacks from out of state are considering playing at Iowa: | |||||||
| Jordan Reed | Nate Scheelhaase | ||||||
| Position: Quarterback | Position: Quarterback | ||||||
| Height: 6-foot-3 | Height: 6-foot-3 | ||||||
| Weight: 235 pounds | Weight: 185 pounds | ||||||
| Hometown: New London, Conn. | Hometown: Kansas City, Mo. | ||||||
| High school: New London | High school: Rockhurst | ||||||
| Rivals rating: **** | Rivals rating: **** | ||||||
| Of note: Father and most of his extended family lives in Dubuque | Of note: Son of former Hawkeyes defensive back, Nate Creer, who played on the 1985 Big Ten championship team | ||||||
| Stats: Threw for 1,706 yards and 28 touchdowns and ran for 570 yards and eight scores as a junior | Stats: Threw for 1,861 yards and 20 touchdowns and ran for 917 yards and 14 scores as a junior | ||||||
| Offers: Iowa, Florida, Oregon, Tennessee, Penn State, Boston College, Syracuse, UConn, Maryland, Duke | Offers: Iowa, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Ole Miss, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Stanford, Wake Forest | ||||||
Contact Eric Page at (563) 383-2277 or epage@qctimes.com.
Comments
Hawk Fan wrote on Jul 23, 2008 2:29 PM:
" SE, does the name Brad Banks, Big Ten Championship and an Orange Bowl berth ring a bell? "
SE wrote on Jul 17, 2008 12:40 PM:
" Scheelhaase committed to Illinois yesterday. Why would a dual threat QB want to go to Iowa with our offense? "
chris watson wrote on Jul 8, 2008 7:34 PM:
" I would really like to have both of them come to Iowa. We need to get somthing going with recruting. I hope we dont have the season like last year with all of the trouble that some of our players got into, LETS GO HAWKS "
R W wrote on Jun 21, 2008 11:01 PM:
" Both great kids. I would love to get these guys!
BE Hawks fella's! "
BE Hawks fella's! "
