Mississippi WR commits to Iowa

This weekend was the first visit to Iowa City for wide receiver Brandon Smith, but the Mississippi native says he quickly felt right at home. That is why before leaving town, the 6-foot-3, 198-pound Smith decided not to wait around and gave his verbal commitment to the Iowa Hawkeyes today.

“With a lot of thought and consideration, I know would like to announce I have officially committed to the University of Iowa,” Smith said, in part, in a statement on Twitter.

A three-star prospect, Smith traveled up to Iowa with his family to attend the Hawkeye Tailgater with several other recruits on Saturday and then stuck around to attend a one day camp with the Iowa coaching staff on Sunday.

“Camp went great,” Smith told HawkeyeReport.com. “The coaches really liked me. They like how big I am and how I catch the ball naturally.”

As a junior, Smith used those skills to rack up 78 catches for 1,382 yards and 16 touchdowns at Lake Cormorant High School in Mississippi. That type of production led to scholarship offers from Iowa, Memphis, Southern Miss, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Monroe, Arkansas State, and Toledo, among others.

With assistant coach Kelvin Bell, a Mississippi native who played football at Iowa, as his lead recruiter for the Hawkeyes, the Big Ten school quickly emerged as the team to beat and has now secured his commitment.

“It feels great,” said Smith. “I can't wait to become a Hawkeye.”

See highlights from Smith’s junior year at Lake Cormorant in the video below.