Four-Star Defensive Tackle Hunter Deyo Commits to Iowa State

Iowa State has pulled off one of its biggest recruiting wins of at least the last couple of decades (outside of maybe Allen Lazard), and certainly one of the biggest of the Matt Campbell era. Four-star defensive lineman Hunter Deyo has committed to Iowa State this evening after a lengthy recruiting process that saw Iowa State come from behind seemingly overnight to secure a commitment from one of the best players from the state of Iowa in the 2022 class.

Deyo is a 90 overall composite rating according to 247Sports, and held offers from Iowa, Kansas State. Minnesota and Oregon. He took his official visit to Ames on June 11th, the second weekend of visits for Iowa State.

It shouldn’t be underestimated how big of a recruiting win this is for Iowa State. 247Sports’ Crystal Ball had multiple writers pointing him to the Hawkeyes until within the last week with a high confidence score. Deyo is the type of recruit that’s had “Iowa Hawkeyes” stamped on them for decades, but Iowa State is changing the in-state recruiting narrative, and Deyo is the crown jewel of that movement to date.

Whether he chooses to beef up just a little and play nose tackle or slim down just a bit and play defensive end, Deyo can make an immediate impact on the defensive line. He’s actually a good enough offensive lineman that he could certainly succeed there at the Big 12 level as well, but I would anticipate that they’ll keep him on defense to start his career.

We should be seeing rating adjustments on the various recruiting platforms in the coming weeks, and several Cyclones are expected to get significant bumps, especially guys like Rocco Becht and Avery Henry. The addition of Deyo before all of these rating adjustments could mean Iowa State shooting up the class rankings in the near future.