Over the weekend Iowa picked up its eleventh verbal commitment for the 2011 recruiting class. As usual, Coach Johnson broke the news of a new member of the Hawkeye family on Twitter. Then, in an exciting twist it was Marcus Grant, the first player to commit to Iowa this year, who released the name of the latest commit via Twitter: Michael Orloff. Orloff is not ranked by Scout, who erroneously has him as a class of 2012 recruit, and is 2-stars by Rivals.

Orloff in High School

Orloff is a teammate and friend of Grant at Lawrence Academy in Groton, Massachusetts. Last year, Lawrence Academy went undefeated and won the Independent School League. They finished the season as the Samson/Lorden Bowl champions. Orloff was a big play maker on both sides of the ball. He played quarterback and safety for the Spartans, but has been recruited by Iowa to play linebacker.

Stats:

• Passing - 61/93 for 1032 yards, 12 TDs, 3 INTs
• Rushing - 55 rushes for 529 yards, 8 TDs
• Defense - 72 tackles, 2 INTs

I have just a couple of quick links to share this morning as some Hawkeyes are being recognized this summer.

Ricky Stanzi

Davey O'Brien Award
On Wednesday the Davey O'Brien foundation announced 30 quarterbacks on its watch list. Among those 30 names was Stanzi, who was a semi-finalist last year. The Davey O'Brien award goes to the nation's best quarterback.

It has been a surprisingly news filled football off season--conference realignment, a couple arrests, a lot going on in recruiting, other major sporting events, etc...--but I think we can all agree that the college football season needs to hurry up and get here soon. We are currently 51 days out from Iowa vs. Eastern Illinois, but there are a few important dates to look forward to during the wait that will hopefully make the time go by faster.

There have been a few good preview of the 2010 Iowa Football season published lately. I don't think I ever learn anything about the team from these, but they are still fun to read. Last year I found myself disagreeing with a lot of the previews as I thought Iowa was being underestimated. This year, the previews predict big things for Iowa, so there are far less complaints on my end.

Iowa picked up another commit Sunday night and it was confirmed the next morning to be Riley McMinn by HawkeyeInsider.com. McMinn is a defensive end out of Illinois, making him just the second defensive player and tenth overall to commit to Iowa. He is rated 3-stars by both Scout and Rivals.

McMinn in High School

McMinn attends Rochester High School in Rochester, Illinois. The Rockets were quite the football team last year that averaged nearly 48 points per game and won their first 12 games before falling in the Illinois Class 4A Semifinals by 1 point (after a failed 2-point conversion with just seconds left in the game) to the eventual state champs. Throughout the season McMinn made big plays that helped his team win, including fumble recoveries, blocking a punt for a safety. McMinn was First Team All Corn Belt conference.

Stats:

• Defense - 67 tackles, 18 TFLs, 11 sacks (I've also seen 13 TFLs and 5.5 sacks)