Ferentz on Lowery

B.J. Lowery will play corner at Iowa, but during his final season at Cincinnati Hughes High School, he played a lot of free safety. Just as C.J. Fiedorowicz played the position, Lowery's high school coach didn't want to waste one of his best defenders on a third of the field.

Lowery made 100 tackles and picked off four passes. He also played quarterback. He also averages 17 points a game in basketball. He's also an excellent baseball player.

"I've been doing this for thirty years and he's one of the best I've ever seen," Hughes coach Dennis Doppes told HawkeyeReport.com. "He's just a remarkable athlete and a guy that can be a true cover corner."

Links -- The website, Tri-StateFootball.com, which covers preps in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky, named Lowery its defensive player of the year. . . . Same site, a short take on Lowery. . . . Here's a link from Hughes High School with Lowery photos from signing day. . . . Here's a story I wrote when Lowery committed.

Bio -- From UI sports info: High school honors - - Earned first team all-state honors as a senior . . . earned all-City recognition as a junior and senior . . . first team all-conference as a junior and senior . . . named Defensive Player of the Year as a senior . . . was second team all-conference as a sophomore . . . Career - - earned three varsity letters as quarterback and defensive back . . . recorded 128.5 tackles as a senior, with four interceptions . . . on offense completed 61-135 passes for 827 yards and five touchdowns and rushed 138 times for 451 yards and five scores . . . collected 49 tackles as a junior, with six interceptions and two returns for touchdowns . . . passed for 695 yards and six touchdowns and rushed for 450 yards and five scores as a junior . . . had 42 tackles and three interceptions as a sophomore, along with 356 yards on kick and punt returns, with four touchdowns . . . team captain as a senior . . . also earned four letters in basketball and baseball.

Personal - - Born 8/31/91 . . . open major . . . member of prep Honor Roll . . . parents are Tina Lowery and Fernando Wright . . . high school coach was Dennis Doppes.

Ferentz on -- A short anecdote on getting Lowery out of the Cincinnati area (an area Iowa doesn't hit very often): "You know, we've dabbled in Cincinnati, not successfully. But we've dabbled there and we really feel good certainly about B.J. joining us. He's the young guy that we impressed with. And he's not unlike a lot of guys. Everybody at the school just loved him.

"Brad Rogers comes to mind. I went into the school last year and his guidance counselor, the priest that runs the school, the athletic director, everybody couldn't say enough about Brad. And that's exactly who he is with us. He's just a guy that does things the way he's supposed to do and works hard. And so kind of the same thing with B.J. Everybody there really just kind of fell in love with him at the school. And he's done a lot of things I think to impress people. And we feel good about him coming with us."

Projection is fun -- Everything sounds very positive on Lowery. He has the dimensions and athleticism Iowa has historically had out of its corners. I'm sure he'll get a chance to show his return skills, an area where Iowa always seems to be taking applications.

Lowery seems like a true corner. I want to say redshirt, but junior Shaun Prater is the closest Iowa has to an established corner. I think there is some flux here and there might be a chance for a young player to find some time in a nickle-dime role.

Can't find any video to embed, so here are some links.

Here's a Rivals.com video.

Here's one from the UI.

I found one of a kid named B.J. Lowery doing flips. Don't think that was him.