Hawkeyes land #4 ranked player in Nebraska

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right out from under the Husker's nose....

Hawkeyes land Omaha commitment
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Blair Sanderson
Staff

After landing a scholarship offer from the Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday, it did not take long for Omaha Millard North prospect Jeff Tarpinian to make up his mind. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Tarpinian called Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz this morning and gave the Hawkeyes his verbal commitment.
Jeff Tarpinian gave his verbal commitment to Coach Kirk Ferentz this morning.
"I just called Coach Ferentz and I committed to Iowa," said Tarpinian.

Tarpinian, who ran a 4.55 forty at the Manhattan NIKE Camp, received the news of an Iowa offer on Saturday morning. He then called Reese Morgan, who recruits the state of Nebraska for the Hawkeyes, and talked to him about the offer.

"Coach Morgan had said to call Coach Ferentz this morning," Tarpinian said. "I got a hold of Coach Ferentz just a little bit ago and told him I was ready to commit. He was real excited and so was I. I talked to him and then he talked to my mom."

At Millard North High School, Tarpinian plays quarterback in Coach Fred Petito's option offense. At the Iowa camp earlier this month, the Hawkeye coaching staff had the chance to see the Omaha prep work at defensive back as a safety. The coaches have told him they could see him as a safety or maybe growing into a linebacker, but were primarily concerned with just getting him on board first.

"Coach Ferentz said they're not real worried about a position because he said I have what they want in a Hawkeye football player," said Tarpinian. "They could see me at a couple different places and he said that's a good quality to have."

Tarpinian has two former high school teammates currently on the team at Iowa in Seth Olsen and Adam Shada. In fact, it was an injured Shada who Tarpinian actually took over for at quarterback in his sophomore year at Millard North. That familiarity with two friends already in Iowa program helped make the decision a little easier the Omaha prep told us.

"Adam and Seth have nothing but good things to say about Iowa," Tarpinian said. "Iowa is just such a great program and great school. I'm just really excited."

Rivals.com ranks Tarpinian as the No. 4 player in the state of Nebraska this year. He becomes the second verbal commitment in the Class of 2006 for the Hawkeyes, joining linebacker Julian Smith.

For more on Tarpinian's commitment to Iowa, including comments from his coach, please visit the Hawkeye Lounge.

http://iowa.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=428462