Kirk Ferentz and the Iowa Football program had a nice Monday. The team got the news that they had landed the highest-rated recruit so far for the class of 2023.

The Des Moines Register reports that 4-star running back Kendrick Raphael from Naples Florida announced that he would be attending the University of Iowa to play football. Raphael shared his decision on Twitter.


Raphael is ranked as the number 64 player in all of Florida and the number 22 running back nationwide, according to the Register. He made his official visit to the Iowa campus just this past weekend. In addition to Iowa, Raphael had offers from Iowa State, NC State, Boston College, BYU, Duke, Howard, Louisville, Minnesota, Pitt, Purdue, Temple, USF, Vanderbilt, and West Virginia among others.

The Register reports that Raphael ran for over 1,300 yards and 18 touchdowns last season. He is the first 4-star prospect and first running back to commit to Iowa for the class of 2023. He joins in-state prospects, Alex Mota, Ben Kueter, Maddux Borcherding-Johnson, and Aiden Hall. The Hawkeyes recruiting class is ranked 20th nationally.

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