Union Knights Football Team

July 10, 2012


Blair Sanderson
HawkeyeReport.com

Talk about it in Off the Record

The Iowa Hawkeyes are making a lot of early moves in-state in the Class of 2014 and this week the coaching staff extended another new scholarship offer. This one went to La Porte City Union quarterback Jay Scheel, who led his team to a state championship in Class 3A as a sophomore last season.

Class of 2014 prospect Jay Scheel added an offer from Iowa this week.
"Coach Reese Morgan contacted me this week and he was telling me about the cookout they are having at Iowa on July 29," said Scheel. "Then we started talking about an offer and I guess they decided to offer me quite a while ago, but I didn't know about it yet. He told me they wanted to make sure that I knew I had an offer there."

That is already the fourth in-state offer for the Hawkeyes in the Class of 2014 as Scheel joins Ross Pierschbacher, Allen Lazard, and Keegan Render on Iowa's list. For the quarterback, who says he grew up a Hawkeye fan, it is his first scholarship opportunity.

"It's a great feeling," Scheel said. "Getting an offer this early is definitely not something that I expected. It's an honor. I'm excited about it."

The 6-foot-1, 170-pound Scheel actually started out at wide receiver his sophomore year, but a shoulder injury to teammate Trev Hadachek forced a move to quarterback in the middle of the season. Moving under center, he finished the year 80/141 passing for 1,334 yards and 12 touchdowns and added 548 yards rushing as well. Scheel played quarterback at Iowa's camp last month, but has the athleticism to play elsewhere down the road if needed.

"They didn't really say what position they were offering at," said Scheel. "I like playing quarterback, but I'll play anything in college. If it's not quarterback, I'm guessing it would be wide receiver."

Along with Iowa, Scheel also attended camps at Iowa State, Minnesota, and Northern Iowa this summer and has received positive feedback from each school. Their coaching staffs will be watching his progress closely this season as he returns as the starting quarterback for the state champs.

"I'm just going to play even harder now and try to get more offers," Scheel said. "I'm going to see what options I can get and probably wait until my senior year before I decide anything."