Edwardsville junior four-star defensive end A.J. Epenesa (6-foot-5, 255 pounds) made an unofficial visit to Iowa for the Hawkeyes' last-second win over Pitt, and the state's top ranked junior - according to Rivals.com - came away impressed with the Hawkeyes.
"The fans were amazing (at Iowa)," he told HawkeyeReport.com's Tom Kakert. "Not many people come out of the tunnel and hear their name chanted by the student section that they want you to come to their school. It was awesome to come out and hear that. The whole visit was awesome. I always enjoy getting back to Iowa City for a visit. The game was awesome and what a way to win a game."
Epenesa is the son of Eppy Epenesa, who played for the Hawkeyes in the late 90s and Iowa is the only fall visit that Epenesa has planned. He has well over 20 verbal scholarship offers so far this fall.
Neuqua Valley junior four star ranked wide receiver Isaiah Robertson (6-foot-2, 185 pounds) has been showing his potential to also play defense at the college level this season.
"I've been playing safety all season," Robertson said. "It's a new position for me but it's also not new to me. I'm playing safety for the first time since I've been at Neuqua (Valley) but until I got here I always played defense."
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Robertson just added his latest offer from Vanderbilt earlier this week and has remained in touch with "Penn State, Maryland, Michigan State and Ohio State pretty much once a week or so."
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Robertson has yet to make any college games in person this fall but plans to change that.
Missouri continues to dip into Southern and Central Illinois with success. The Tigers and head coach Gary Pinkel this past weekend added a verbal commitment from Springfield Sacred Heart Griffin three-star athlete Albert Okwuegbunam (6-foot-5, 215 pounds), who made an unofficial visit.
"I just liked everything about my visit to Missouri," Okwuegbunam said. "The environment was just really good at Missouri. The coaches and the players are great and they made me feel welcomed."
Okwuegbunam joins Nashville (Ill.) senior three-star offensive tackle Royce Newman (6-foot-7, 260 pounds) and O'Fallon (Ill.) three-star senior kicker Tucker McCann (6-foot-1, 185 pounds) in the Tigers' 2016 class.
Crete-Monee senior wide receiver Landon Lenoir (6-foot-1, 170 pounds) gave Southern Illinois his verbal commitment on Monday. Lenoir, who had offers and interest from the Salukis, along with Western Illinois and Northern Iowa, had a chance to play at WIU along side his older brother, junior wide receiver Lance Lenoir, who's been a starter for the Leathernecks since his freshman season.
"Western Illinois recruited me and gave me a lot to think about," Lenoir said. "I talked to my brother already about my decision and he's cool about it. He just was happy for me and told me to keep grinding. I also always felt like I wanted to go and do my own thing and be my own man. I'd love to play with my brother again but I made my decision for myself, and SIU is the best place for me."