There still isn’t any doubt, Barrent simply has decided — with certainty this time, he says — that he wants to play football somewhere other than the University of Iowa.
Monday, the 6-foot-8, 290-pounder from West Des Moines Valley High School went back on the verbal commitment he made May 3 to play for the Hawkeyes and pledged his allegiance to Big Ten rival Michigan State.
“After I committed, about a month or so ago, I started to have some reservations,” Barrent told Web site Rivals.com. “Then, I opened up to my parents that I was thinking about changing my mind. After lots of talking and thinking, I just decided Michigan State was the better fit for me in the long run.”
BLOG: Sioux City Heelan running back Brandon Wegher has narrowed his list of schools to five. Click here for more in Eric Page's "Eye on the Hawks" blog.
Barrent, rated a 4-star prospect, the No. 7 offensive tackle in the nation and the top player in Iowa’s high school class of 2009, said the fact that the Spartans already have received verbal commitments from 13 players — including seven with 4-star ratings — played in his reversal.
“I think the recruiting class they have coming in played a little factor,” he said. "It’s a lot more secure to know when you have guys that are really talented on track to go there. But for me it was just a good feeling about Michigan State and how I would fit in there in the long run.”
With the loss of Barrent, Iowa has only one player verbally committed in the class of ’09, Ohio running back Brad Rogers, a 3-star prospect. Two weeks ago, the Hawkeyes lost 4-star quarterback and Iowa legacy Nate Scheelhaase to Illinois. Scheelhaase is from out of state, though — Kansas City, Mo. — so that wasn’t viewed as that big of a surprise.
Three elite recruits remain in Iowa’s class of 2009. They are Mt. Pleasant wideout Jordan Cotton, Sioux City Heelan running back Brandon Wegher and Cedar Rapids Washington receiver Keenan Davis.
Wegher and Davis, both 4-star prospects, have said they plan to announce their decisions before the start of the high school season. Cotton, whose father, Marshall, played at Iowa in the mid-1980s, is expected to decide between Iowa and Kansas later this week.
Contact Eric Page at (563) 383-2277 or epage@qctimes.com.
Comments
Chad wrote on Jul 29, 2008 6:26 PM:
" Wow! Do we even have a recruiting staff? We have gone from a good number of four star guys each year to just trying to none. The recruitment staff better not be getting Ferentz money... in fact, I'm beginning to question whether or not Ferentz is worth it. "
Chris wrote on Jul 29, 2008 3:30 PM:
" I believe that all the off-field incidents are starting to catch up with Iowa. Why would any high recruits want to come to Iowa now with all the negaitive publicity that surrounds the program? I hate to say it, but they are turning into the laughing stock of college football and it's time for this crap to end. I just hope Davis, Cotton, and Wegher can overlook these past issues and focus on a brighter future for the Hawkeye program. "
ronclop wrote on Jul 30, 2008 7:53 AM: