Iose Epenesa, a four-star 2025 pass rusher and No. 114 nationally, has committed to Iowa State, as he announced Thursday. Iose is a traditional recruit and is Epi Ebenezer and running back Eric Epenesa, the younger brother of former Hawkeye AJ Epenesa.
A product of Edwardsville, Ill., Epenesa chose the Hawkeyes over the rest of his top five, which included Miami (Fla.), Missouri, Utah State and Penn State.
He paid official visits to each of the above-mentioned projects.
During the official visit process, Epee worked hard to make sure Eise got everything he needed from each visit and didn’t feel pressure to ultimately choose the Hawkeyes.
“I’m an Iowan. I will always be an Iowan,” Epi told PowerMizzou. “My kids are not. I don’t want my kids to think I’m forcing them to go there and not see beyond Iowa State. I want him to pick where he fits and I want him to pick the coach he’s going to go to I want him to choose the position that’s right for him and that has to do with my kids and nothing to do with me or my wife.
Meanwhile, Eppie hasn’t been shy about expressing his feelings about the Hawkeyes throughout the recruiting process, sharing things like, “I’m a super proud Hawkeye because Kirk (Ferenz) The staff welcomed our son Iose and our family to Hawkeye Country. Excited and proud, thank you Kirk and Hawkeye Football for a great weekend.
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Still, at various stages of his recruitment, both Miami and Utah seemed to have a good chance of signing the youngest Epenesa.
After visiting Miami, he had this to say about the Hurricanes:
“It’s just that they have a family here. Some schools you’re on your own and that’s basically how you feel. But here, I just feel like there’s more of a family aspect. They like each other for the most part. So it’s nice to see to that.
National recruiting analyst Greg Smith added on the possibility of Epenesa landing in Dade County:
“Coached by a Hall of Famer Jason Taylor Carrying a lot of weight, the Hurricanes did their best to make Epenesa feel like Miami was the place to be during his official visit.
Recruitment analyst Adam Gorney also expressed some thoughts in June:
“[Iose}islookingforsomethingdifferentthewordisthatEpenesa’sbesttripsofarwasatUtahovertheweekend[Iose}正在尋找一些不同的東西，據說埃佩內薩迄今為止最好的旅行是在猶他州度過的周末。[Iose}islookingforsomethingdifferentthewordisthatEpenesa’sbesttripsofarwasatUtahovertheweekend
The Utes could be a sneaky option here.
Despite push from other schools, the Hawkeyes relied on family connections, prior success and familiarity to land Epenesa.
Epenesa is the 14th prospect in Iowa’s 2025 recruiting class, which also includes Scott Starzyk, Brad Fitzgibbon, Charles Bell, Drew MacPherson, Lucas Allgeyer, Cameron Herron, Mason Woods, Thomas Meyer, Eli Johnson, Jimmy Sullivan, Carson Cooney, Burke Gaucher and Joey Van Wezinga.
