Iowa Lands Junior College Offensive Lineman

The Iowa Hawkeyes have landed a verbal commitment from junior college offensive lineman Marshal Yanda. Yanda is a 6-foot-4, 310-pound Anamosa, Iowa native and is attending North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City, where he will graduate from in December.

HawkeyeReport.com caught up with the latest addition to the Iowa recruiting class of 2005 for an update.

“I am verbally committed to Iowa,” Yanda said. “I called Coach Morgan at 9 AM this morning and my grades went through. All I have to do is finish up this semester. I had a 3.0 grade point average at midterm, so I should be good to go.”

As HawkeyeReport.com reported earlier this week, the Iowa coaching staff had been showing serious interest in Yanda, but needed to check his transcripts before proceeding with an official offer. After those transcripts checked out, Yanda did not waste any time in joining the Iowa program.

“I always wanted to be a Hawkeye,” said Yanda. “It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to play at that level and I always wanted to play at Iowa. Now I have that chance.”

Yanda chose Iowa over a scholarship offer from Iowa State, where he made an official to last month. We asked Yanda what the two schools liked about his play on the field.

“They said they like how physical I was on the field and they like the effort,” Yanda said. “I give great effort on the field and I’m aggressive.”

Yanda will graduate from NIACC next month and will enroll at Iowa in January, which can not come soon enough for him.

“It feels great and I’m excited, but I’m ready to work and the challenge is still ahead. I’m not a big talker, but I like to work,” said Yanda.

Yanda will have three years to play two, but does not expect to redshirt barring injury. As mentioned, he will enroll in January and will be eligible to participate in spring practice next year. Yanda and his family plan to be in Kinnick Stadium on Saturday for Iowa's game against Wisconsin.

Yanda will officially sign his national letter of intent to the University of Iowa on December 15th. His verbal commitment is the 12th that the Iowa Hawkeyes have received in the recruiting class of 2005.

Be sure to check the Hawkeye Lounge for much more on Marshal Yanda and his commitment to Iowa.