Richardson reflects on his recruiting

Wheaton, Ill. four star ranked offensive tackle prospect Dace Richardson (6-foot-6, 300 pounds) has definitely grown to appreciate one of the many positives of making his verbal commitment known on national television.

"Things have been really quiet around the house lately," Richardson said. "The phone hasn't rang too much since the All American Bowl, and my family and I aren't complaining at all."

Richardson is enjoying the quiet, something that was definitely not the case leading up to his All American Bowl game appearance.

"The calls really started to get crazy again just before I left for San Antonio, I basically stopped picking up the phone. My family and I had a system where we would just let all of the calls go to voice mail, then we would check the messages. We basically lost our phone for awhile. It wasn't that I didn't appreciate the coaches who called, but I just didn't want to have any additional pressure or pitches from the coaches. I needed some time to just think about things before I made my final college choice."

Richardson also put to rest the early rumors that he was an early verbal to Iowa.

"I really went into the All American game still undecided between Tennessee and Iowa. I was able to talk with a lot of the players that were already verballed to both schools, and after that I really had a better feeling towards heading to Iowa. It wound up being a bigger factor than I thought it would be for me, getting to know the players who already verballed to both schools. Once Tony (Moeaki) told me early in the week that he was heading to Iowa, that was the clincher. Tony's decision surprised me. I really thought that he would wind up at BYU or somewhere else, but I'm still excited that we'll both be heading to Iowa."

Richardson also claims that his official visits made his final choice even harder.

"I went into my official visits looking for a clear cut answer on a school, but I basically just became more confused. Each school I visited had some great things to offer, and I really felt that each school had great positives. Iowa's coaches were one of the big selling point for me from the start. Both Coach (Kirk) Ferentz and Coach (Reese) Morgan are really great guys. With the mix of academics, athletics and support, Iowa was just the best fit for me."

So did Richardson ever think that he would be at this point when he was a freshman in high school?

"No. I was 6-foot-3, 230 pounds freshman and playing football never really crossed my mind at that time. I really thought that I would be more of a basketball player in high school. Both Tony (Moeaki) and Grant (Nemeth) talked me into going out for football. I'm definitely glad that they convinced me to give football a try.

Richardson will now sign his Letter of Intent on National Signing Day February 2nd to the University of Iowa. What are Richardson's short term and long term goals in Iowa City?

"My short term goals is to be one of the best left tackles and to challenge for a starting spot. Longer term I want to earn my college degree and I also want to be a starter by my sophomore season, and of course be a contributor and to help the Hawkeyes win right away."