Iowa football transfer DL 'too good to be true'
The focus of the Iowa Hawkeyes' transfer portal additions is on quarterback Mark Gronowski, and it makes sense. He plays the most important position in all of sports and is a large reason for the continuously growing buzz around the Hawkeyes heading into 2025.
He isn't the only addition from the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, though. Also coming to Iowa is defensive lineman Bryce Hawthrone, who is already making waves early with the Hawkeyes as he figures to become a key cog on an already dominant defensive front. Iowa defensive line coach Kelvin Bell has high praise for Hawthorne already.
"Yeah, he's pretty good. He's a guy that we had in camp twice, and I didn't take him. You can't always be right, but we got him, and I'm really excited about him. He practices with high energy. Violent kid. Super smart. Almost too good to be true," said Kelvin Bell, Iowa's defensive line coach.
"He had a 4.0 last semester. This kid is not uptight, he's just one of the guys. Both him and Jonah have come into our room and fallen right into line with how we want to do things and the things that we value, and the things that are important are important to those guys, too. So, they were both really good gets," Bell continued.
Like so many Iowa stars, Hawthorne was under-recruited out of high school. A product of Osseo Senior High School in Osseo, Minnesota, Hawthorne only received FCS offers to South Dakota State, Bemidji State, Minnesota State Mankato, Minnesota State University Moorhead, and St. Thomas.
After choosing to join the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, Hawthorne blossomed. In two years, he appeared in 17 games, tallying 27 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, and 4.5 sacks. He joins an experienced and talented defensive line group of Aaron Graves, Ethan Hurkett, and Max Llewellyn, whom he can spell and carve out his own role amid.
Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions. Follow Riley on X: @rileydonald7
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