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Iowa Football: Eno Benjamin Reopens Recruitment

By Jeremy Karll

Oct 8, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz looks on during pre game before a game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at TCF Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 8, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes head coach Kirk Ferentz looks on during pre game before a game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at TCF Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports /
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Running back recruit Eno Benjamin has reopened his recruitment

In an unexpected change of events, one of Iowa football’s top recruits in the class of 2017, Eno Benjamin, has reopened his recruitment. Benjamin took to Twitter to announce his decision on Sunday night.

https://twitter.com/eno_benjamin5/status/790329330559700993

Benjamin committed to Iowa in mid-April, and he has not been shy to show his loyalty to Iowa over that time frame. He even took to Twitter to confirm his loyalty to Iowa in August after fans questioned his loyalty following him retweeting and publicly liking Michigan’s new Jordan brand uniforms.

This is a huge loss for Iowa in many ways. For one, Benjamin is widely considered a four-star running back and is consistently part of top-300 recruiting rankings. 247Sports ranks him as the 159th best recruit in the nation and 26th best recruit in the state of Texas. ESPN gave him a rating of 80 and ranked him as Iowa’s second best recruit.

With LeShun Daniels Jr graduating after this year, the Hawkeyes could have used Benjamin right away to complement Akrum Wadley. Benjamin has dominated in Texas this year playing as running back and quarterback and was a favorite to see snaps behind Wadley.

Also, Benjamin helped influence other players from Texas to commit to Iowa. Chevin Calloway, Peyton Mansell and Gavin Holmes are just a couple of Texas natives that have committed to Iowa. While Benjamin is certainly not the only reason they committed to Iowa, it will be interesting to see if Benjamin’s decommitment starts a domino effect.

Benjamin has plenty of offers to choose from, including one from Michigan.

The Hawkeyes also have Illinois running back commit Ivory Kelly-Martin, and offensive lineman commit Mark Kallenberger made sure fans did not forget about that.

Benjamin was a big part of the class, however Iowa still has a very strong class. Iowa still has 17 recruits in their class of 2017, including three-four stars: A.J. Epenesa, Chevin Calloway and Mark Kallenberger.

Next: What's Next for Jarrod Uthoff?

We wish Eno Benjamin the best of luck in his future.