Despite injuries, Iowa stuck with RB recruit

On week 2 of Miami (Fla.) Monsignor Pace's season, running back D'Andre Johnson suffered a torn ACL. The 5-foot-8, 210-pounder immediately noticed a change in the voices of the college recruiters on the other end of the phone.

“They called and asked how I did that week,” said Johnson, who rushed for 1,121 yards and 10 TDs last year. “I'd tell them, ‘Coach, I didn't do too well. I tore my ACL on the third play of the game.' Their tone changed to ‘Woooowwww, really?'”

Iowa assistant coach Rick Kaczenski, the Hawkeyes' primary recruiter in Florida, didn't blink.

“I told him and he said, ‘Just get back to me and let me know how you're doing,'” Johnson said. “His voice was basically the same. He said, ‘Really? That's like a broken finger. We'll treat it like a broken finger and let it heal.'

“He was the only coach who said that.”

It came down to Iowa and Minnesota. Johnson picked Iowa before last weekend's victory at Penn State and canceled a visit to Minnesota. Last spring, Johnson won the Florida High School Athletics Association Class 2A shot put title with a throw of 54-10.

Johnson committed over the weekend. Cornerback B.J. Lowery picked the Hawkeyes over an offer from Akron on Tuesday.

Lowery, a 5-11, 175-pounder, plays quarterback for Cincinnati (Ohio) Hughes High School. He turned down a recent offer to visit Michigan to pick the Hawkeyes. He made one to Iowa City, the Hawkeyes' season opener against Northern Iowa.

“Iowa coaches were big on education and I liked that,” Lowery said.

According to ESPN.com, wide receiver Stephane N'goumou has recommitted to the Hawkeyes. The 6-4, 200-pounder signed with Iowa in February but didn't make it through NCAA qualifying. He's enrolled at Milford Academy, a prep school in New Berlin, N.Y.

Iowa now has 16 commitments for the 2010 class. The national signing period begins Feb. 3, 2010.

Coaches aren't allowed to comment on specific recruits. Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said Iowa plans to sign around 20 recruits.

Kuempel contributes

In case you missed it, senior O-lineman Andy Kuempel was used as the second tight end on about a dozen snaps in two-tight end sets against Penn State.

“We just wanted somebody who could better hold the point (of attack) and do some blocking for us,” Ferentz said. “It gave us a way to keep that package alive, otherwise we probably would have had to toss it.”