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KIRK FERENTZ: Appreciate everybody joining us and appreciate your coverage of the team.
I'll make some broad-based comments about the class, the process, then Tyler Barnes, who is in charge of our recruiting and has done a really wonderful job, can share some good detail with you, probably fill in some things for you.
Just in general this is the 22nd year of doing this, 22nd class. I think we're all excited about this group certainly. It's always an exciting just period for the staff, support staff, everybody that works so hard to pull a class together. It was a lot of work, a lot of detail that goes into that certainly. Just really excited about that in general.
Excited to introduce this class officially. Things have changed greatly as we all know in recruiting, it's almost anti-climactic, a lot of Hawkeye fans know more about these people than we do. Nonetheless, it's a really exciting day for everybody.
Like I said, 17 players, we're thrilled with each and every one of them. Really anxious to welcome them into the class, onto the team.
Recruiting, it's kind of an interesting process. Really I think there's more art to it than science as you go through it. That's true in a normal year. This past year has been anything but normal as we all realize, things getting shut down back in March. We haven't been able to have any personal contact, yet in some strange way it just seems like we almost know this class better than any class we've had because we weren't coaching the guys on our campus, we weren't working with them on a daily basis. As a result, we had a lot more time. It's a different way of communication. Certainly all of us in the country realize that and come to appreciate it.
It really afforded us an opportunity to really get to know our prospects maybe on a deeper level than normal. Same thing with their families. Really appreciative of that, appreciative of the prospects and families taking time to visit with us, ask questions, get their questions answered. Really happy about that.
As we move on right now, we're excited to get this process done. We'll go from there.
One thing I'd also mention, too, just about this class. I think it's been interesting, look at last year's class, they got on campus in June, the obstacles, challenges they've had to face to get to this point, to this mid-December date. It's been one of the biggest challenges for any first-year class that I can imagine. It's really commendable how they've handled that.
I would flip it around and say the same thing about this class, I think all of us do, about this recruiting class. We certainly had bumps back in March right on through. I can't say enough about the way the prospects handled it, about the way they actually delved into areas that they were concerned about or had questions about, asked good questions, both the prospects and families. Really they were digging for facts, not headlines. I can't say enough about that.
None of them flinched, none of them wavered. I feel really good. We've already learned a lot about these guys without seeing them on campus. That's certainly exciting.
This class is well represented. It's a pretty local class, as you know, all but one from Iowa or bordering states. You think about the pandemic, a lot of these prospects had ability to be on a campus before things shut down in March. More regional recruiting, if you will.
All that being said, we still feel great about it for this distance, Joey Labas coming from eastern Ohio. But Joey and several other prospects, they made the trip here, he and his family, made the trip during the summertime just to see Iowa City, experience it a little bit. We couldn't have any contact with him, but at least they were able to see it with their own eyes and ears.
Everything was outside in, standing outside the facility, getting a feel for Iowa City. That's a huge thing for us is getting prospects on campus, getting them into Iowa City, most importantly meeting the people here, interfacing with them. This year it's done in a little different way, but I think the results have been really good.
A couple other things about this class. We're looking for guys that are leaders, good football players, but leaders. 15 out of the 17 have been captains, multi-sport athletes. Think about Cooper DeJean, he probably sparked our interest, the most recent commit as well, sparked our interests through basketball prowess. The football part took care of itself. That's always been important to us, something we try to identify during the recruiting process.
Just last and not least, a really special time for all the prospects. That's all across the country. To receive a scholarship, to earn a scholarship, that's really significant. I always tell prospects, nobody gives them out, they get earned. Our prospects have had a lot of help and support along the way. It's exciting for everybody involved, the high school coaches, parents, family members. It's just a day of celebration, rightfully so. Scholarships are hard to earn. I commend them all for that.
When this is over, we'll start the transition forward at some point. A handful of guys come in January, hopefully in January, then June for everybody else. We'll look forward when the time is appropriate to get them on campus and have a chance to work with them. We're really excited about that.
Last couple things here. Just want to congratulate all of our guys that have received recognition. I know the offensive and defensive teams now have been released. Special salute to Daviyon Nixon to be the defensive player of the conference and also the defensive lineman of the conference, that's a tremendous accomplishment. Speaks to the improvement he's made over 12 months. Really worked hard, played an extremely high level. Just happy for him for that recognition.
Happy for each and every guy that has been recognized. That's really a special thing, too. We talked to the team last night, just kind of gave them a quick update. We want the guys to get a little rest, try to recharge their batteries a little bit. They're in finals week. This has been unprecedented. We're trying to practice, getting ready to get ready for a game during finals there. Good thing there, the guys can turn their attention to finals, finish strong that way. As much as anything, give a chance for everybody to get rest.
I heard that coming in on the college sports station, they talked about they had four head coaches on during the course of the week. All the coaches referenced that their teams were a little tired, worried about their teams and staffs being tired. This has been an unusual year. I think that's probably the most important thing right now, is our guys to finish their academics well and just rest, get some rest.
We'll figure out next week what's going to happen, what we're going to do. We eagerly await Sunday to learn our destination. After we do that, then we'll start at some point getting ready for our next game. We'll look forward to that.
Again, as I said yesterday, I am appreciative that we got to play eight games this year. It's been quite a deal. Hopefully we have one more in us, and hopefully we continue to improve as we go. Today is just a day to celebrate these recruits. We're thrilled to have them join our program.
I'll throw it out for questions.
Q. This is sort of a loaded question. With everything that's gone on as far as recruiting restrictions, how much did having arguably the deepest class in the state of Iowa high school talent-wise, how much of that helped you establish that foundation for the recruiting class? When did you know the in-state talent for this class was going to be deep and special?
KIRK FERENTZ: That's always a good thing for us obviously. That's one of the challenges at Iowa, is our population, a state that doesn't have eight to 10 million people in it. Common sense says there are less prospects.
You guys probably know this better than I, if you go back through the last 10 years, there's a lot more scholarship players playing in our program now going on to college. I think it really speaks to the coaching, in big programs and small, that our players and in-state players get to receive.
I've always felt the coaching in this state is outstanding. Football is important, as a general statement, in the state of Iowa to high school players. It's a real positive. Certainly helps if you don't have to cross state borders. No guarantees, but I think at least your odds go up a little bit. The familiarity with the program, ability to be on campus more, just follow the program a little closer I think is obvious.
I was remiss, we're really excited about the nine walk-ons that are committed to us. I think that's a really exciting group, really accomplished, good players. Again, all those things we just talked about, the character, the attributes, leadership.
When you think about a guy like Keith Duncan who is up for the Burlsworth Award. We awarded three scholarships last week to guys that are more than worthy, deserving. That's always been a big thing for us. We're excited to have them join the program, too.
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