Highest-rated Class of 2026 football recruits from Iowa

The recruiting race for the Class of 2026 is already heating up — not just on the field, but in the increasingly complex ecosystem of modern college football, where NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) deals are reshaping how programs and players navigate early recruitment. For elite underclassmen, talent alone is no longer the only factor drawing attention; marketability, social media presence, and brand potential are now playing pivotal roles in how offers are extended and decisions are made. The top recruits in the 2026 cycle are not only physically advanced and highly skilled — they’re entering high school with endorsement potential and media savviness.

Stacker compiled a list of the highest rated Class of 2026 football recruits from Iowa using data from 247Sports. Here’s the players from Iowa set to dominate Saturdays (and potentially Sundays) for years to come.

#9. Colin Whitters (IOL)

– National rank: #771 (3 stars)

– Position rank: #68

– College: Iowa

– Offers: Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas State

– High school: West Senior (Iowa City, IA)

#8. Draeden Punt (DL)

– National rank: #718 (3 stars)

– Position rank: #82

– College: Kansas

– Offers: Kansas, Kansas State, South Dakota

– High school: MOC-Floyd Valley (Orange City, IA)

#7. Dreshaun Ross (ATH)

– National rank: #647 (3 stars)

– Position rank: #42

– College: not committed

– Offers: Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas State, Michigan, Minnesota

– High school: Fort Dodge (Fort Dodge, IA)

#6. Jeffrey Roberts (WR)

– National rank: #529 (3 stars)

– Position rank: #86

– College: Iowa State

– Offers: Iowa State, Kansas State

– High school: Ames (Ames, IA)

#5. Kasen Thomas (LB)

– National rank: #484 (3 stars)

– Position rank: #34

– College: not committed

– Offers: Iowa, Iowa State, Arizona, Kansas State, Michigan State

– High school: Bishop Heelan Catholic (Sioux City, IA)

#4. Jayden McGregory (ATH)

– National rank: #396 (4 stars)

– Position rank: #26

– College: not committed

– Offers: Louisville, Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, Georgia

– High school: Valley (Des Moines, IA)

#3. Evan Jacobson (TE)

– National rank: #271 (4 stars)

– Position rank: #15

– College: not committed

– Offers: Notre Dame, Florida State, Auburn, Texas A&M, Stanford

– High school: Waukee (Waukee, IA)

#2. Carson Nielsen (OT)

– National rank: #268 (4 stars)

– Position rank: #23

– College: Iowa

– Offers: Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas State, Minnesota, Missouri

– High school: West (Waterloo, IA)

#1. Julian Manson (ATH)

– National rank: #261 (4 stars)

– Position rank: #15

– College: not committed

– Offers: Iowa, Minnesota, Arizona, Kansas State, Kent State

– High school: West Senior (Iowa City, IA)

Texas A&M RB Le’Veon Moss was arrested early this morning for disorderly conduct. Mike Elko has now since addressed the incident regarding his team’s leading rusher last fall.

Elko has shared a statement about Moss this afternoon. It was a straightforward one at this time as the Aggies are aware of the matter and intend to handle it within the program at A&M.

“We are aware of the situation regarding Le’Veon Moss and will handle the matter internally,” said Elko per Carter Karels at GigEm247.

KBTX in College Station reported on the arrest this morning that took place around 1 a.m. CT. Moss was apparently involved in an argument where he was threatening and “speaking aggressively” someone else. After attempts were made by law enforcement and those in his party to calm him, Moss, as well as someone else with him at the time, were placed under arrest. No other details are known at this time of what caused the incident to begin with. That all comes per KBTX’s Rusty Surett.

Moss has spent the past three seasons with the Aggies. He, in 25 appearances in his career at the school, has 244 carries for 1,363 yards, at 54.5 yards per game and 5.6 per attempt, and 16 touchdowns when rushing. That includes what was a career-best season for him in nine starts last fall as a junior where he had 121 carries for 765 yards, averaging 85 a game and 6.3 per carry, and 10 scores, making him their leading rusher and a selection to the All-SEC Second Team. However, he had a season-ending injury in a loss on November 2nd at South Carolina which kept him out of their final four games.

More could come on this matter at SEC Media Days this week with Texas A&M to be the final team on the schedule with their appearance being last on Thursday. This was pretty clear by Elko, though, with the Aggies likely to only say so much on Moss’ arrest as they handle it themselves internally.

Kentucky men’s basketball is looking to land its first 2026 commitment, but there are plenty of options out there still regularly hearing from the Wildcats.

A new name to monitor is four-star power forward Cam Williams (no, not the Kam Williams already on Kentucky’s current roster). The 6-foot-11 prospect out of Arizona is considered the No. 16 overall rising high school senior in the country, according to On3. He spoke with KSR at the adidas 3SSB Championships in Rock Hill, SC, on Friday to talk about the Wildcats’ recent push in his recruitment.

“It’s good, it’s starting to pick up,” Williams said of his communication with UK. “Couple days ago, I talked to Coach Mark Pope over the phone, he FaceTimed me, and we just had a good talk, we got to know each other and he was telling me about Kentucky and all that stuff.”

“(Pope) wanted to see where my mindset was on recruiting and if I was still open,” Williams added. “He was just trying to get to know me and my family.”

Kentucky has not extended an offer to Williams (the only school he’s still considering yet to do so), but a connection is quickly forming. Pope, along with assistant coach Jason Hart, have been ramping up the contact since they watched Williams play in Iowa during the second 3SSB session back in May. Hart was the first one to speak with him, even talking with Williams’ coaches and parents, and their relationship has been growing ever since.

Pope has been paying extra close attention to Williams’ games in Rock Hill, SC, this week since college coaches were allowed in the gym starting Thursday. Suiting up for Compton Magic alongside top-five 2027 prospect Bruce Branch III — also a Kentucky target — Williams has noticed Pope watching from the baseline.

“It means a lot, you know?” Williams said of UK coaches coming to his games. “A lot of coaches are here for me, but the biggest thing for me is communication, and they’re starting to pick that up.”

As of right now, Williams has official visits locked in with Purdue, Texas, Duke, and Arizona for September and October. Southern California and North Carolina are also on his radar. A trip to Lexington has not been scheduled, but he says Kentucky coaches have talked about it happening down the road. Williams plans to take his recruitment into next spring with plans of making a decision after his senior season ends.

Want more Kentucky Basketball intel? Join KSR Plus for access to bonus content and KSBoard, KSR’s message board, to chat with fellow Cats fans and get exclusive scoop.

Four weeks down, four weeks to go…

Kentucky men’s basketball has officially hit the halfway point of summer practices. According to NCAA rules, college programs are allowed eight total weeks (capped at eight hours per week) of weight training and on-court skill instruction during the summer semester. Only four hours per week can be dedicated to on-court practice sessions.

With the “Blue Summer” already at the halfway point, the video team over at UK provided us with some more offseason content. One clip is a highlight reel of what’s been happening during practice at the Joe Craft Center, with a Mark Pope pep talk played over the videos. The second clip is labeled “lights out” as several Wildcats show off their shooting stroke. Collin Chandler hitting a jumper with the No. 9 banner in the background is perfect cinema. And finally, the third clip — “no regard for gravity” — is nothing but dunk after dunk after dunk.

Watch all three videos below to satisfy your basketball craving. Kentucky’s 2025-26 season isn’t too far off…

Four weeks down, four weeks to go pic.twitter.com/m8JvJcJJ1f

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) July 12, 2025

Lights out pic.twitter.com/xjxjqi5U7d

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) July 12, 2025

No regard for gravity pic.twitter.com/fDmXqqx5g6

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) July 12, 2025

Join KSR Plus! With a KSR Plus membership, you get access to bonus content and KSBoard, KSR’s message board, to chat with fellow Cats fans and get exclusive scoop.

The purge of mostly fake NIL agreements has already begun

PublishedJuly 13, 2025 7:56 PM EDT•UpdatedJuly 13, 2025 7:57 PM EDT

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Things are changing quickly in the name, image and likeness world, thanks to the new College Sports Commission.

This week, that new agency sent out a lengthy letter to schools informing them that the commission had rejected a number of agreements between recruits or players and the NIL collectives that have proliferated throughout college football in recent years. Those NIL collectives had previously operated with little oversight or interference, allowing them to funnel money to key players on behalf of their associated schools.

Part of the new House-approved settlement, though, created this commission to evaluate NIL deals moving forward. And they’re already making their presence felt.

RELATED: House Settlement Approved, College Athletics Undergo Massive Change

Inglewood, CA – January 09:  Georgia Bulldogs fan cheer in the stands before the CFP National Championship Football game against the TCU Horned Frogs at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Monday, January 9, 2023. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)

College Sports Commission Shuts Down Invalid NIL Deals

Some of these arrangements, per the commission, have no “valid business purpose” and, according to a new Associated Press report, “don’t adhere to rules that call for outside NIL deals to be between players and companies that provide goods or services to the general public for profit.”

The new ruling is expected to lead to several collectives permanently shutting down, as schools will now pay players directly, and the “fake” NIL agreements will be under stricter scrutiny. 

A number of them have already closed, with those supporting programs like Georgia, Colorado, Alabama and Notre Dame announcing plans to shut down. Some of those schools have made deals with Learfield to make legitimate NIL arrangements.

Roughly 1,500 deals have been cleared in the month or so since the NIL Go system started, with financial figures ranging from “three figures to seven figures.”  Many others though, were denied because they did not fit with the new “valid business purpose” required standard. 

“In other words, NIL collectives may act as marketing agencies that match student-athletes with businesses that have a valid business purpose and seek to use the student’s NIL to promote their businesses,” the memo explained.

How this impacts schools that have maximized NIL collective-based recruiting, like say, Texas A&M, remains to be seen. But things are rapidly changing in college football. As they always do.

College basketball has undergone significant changes in recent years with the introduction of NIL. With NIL in the mix, players have been more inclined to flip from school to school in search of the best possible deal. This has led to some frustration in the college basketball fan base.

However, following the NCAA house settlement deal, there has been a lot of talk about an NIL cap. This led to a discussion on Reddit, as one fan asked if the cap on NIL could reignite under-the-table recruiting and payments.

With there being a cap on NIL now, do you think that most schools will go back to paying players under the table again?
byu/Coolsun13 inCollegeBasketball

Many other college basketball fans chimed in with their opinions.

“100% it’s going back to cheating,” one fan wrote.

“No, there’s no cap on NIL, but all NIL deals must go through an NIL clearing house to get approved. Will teams still pay under the table? Probably. There will be people who will always cheat to gain an advantage. Human nature,” one fan commented.

“What is this “under the table money” you speak of?” one fan added.

Fans continued to react in the comments.

“The cap is only on how much colleges can spend on teams. There’s no limit for a player’s earning potential. Arch Manning can still make over the 17.6M cap that the House settlement put into place. Just the NIL deals have to go through the other org,” one fan wrote.

“It’ll be called lobbying players now. It’s as American as Apple Pie,” one fan commented.

“It’s going to be back to normal. Paying recruits under the table. Duke, Kentucky, UNC, Kansas, Michigan were the biggest,” one fan added.

There Is No Cap on NIL Wages for College Basketball Players

One thing some fans do not understand about the NIL cap is that it does not cap wages for college basketball players. As a result of the house settlement, each team will have a set amount of money it can pay players each season.

This will be similar to a salary cap in professional sports leagues like the NBA, NFL and NHL. However, it does not limit the player’s earning potential.

Players are still able to sign NIL deals with brands outside of what they receive from their school. This cap is simply put in place to encourage players to pay players fairly and to stop top teams from poaching top players from other programs.

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