As he announced on Thursday, 2025 four-star pass rusher and the No. 114 player in the country, Iose Epenesa has committed to Iowa. A legacy recruit, Iose is the son of Eppy Epenesa and the younger brother of former Hawkeye AJ Epenesa as well as walk-on linebacker Eric Epenesa.
A product of Edwardsville, Illinois, Epenesa chose the Hawkeyes over the remainder of his top five, which included Miami (FL), Missouri, Utah, and Penn State.
He took official visits to each of the aforementioned programs.
During the official visit process, Eppy worked to ensure that Iose was getting everything he needed out of each visit and didn't feel pressured to ultimately pick the Hawkeyes.
"I’m an Iowa guy. I will be Iowa for life," Eppy told PowerMizzou. "My children are not. I don’t want my children to think that I forced them to go there and not see outside of Iowa. I want him to pick where he’s going to fit, I want him to pick the coach that he’s going to be with, I want him to pick the position coach he fits with. It’s about my children. It’s not about me or my wife."
At the same time, Eppy wasn't shy about how he felt about the Hawkeyes throughout the recruiting process, sharing sentiments like "I am a super proud Hawkeye is because of how Kirk (Ferentz)'s staff welcomed our son Iose and our family to Hawkeye Nation. Emotional and proud Thank you, Kirk and Hawkeye Football for an amazing weekend."
Although, at different points in his recruitment, it appeared as though Miami and Utah had solid chances to land the youngest Epenesa.
Following his visit to Miami, he had this to say about the Hurricanes:
"Just they have a family here. Some schools you are by yourself, basically is what you feel like. But here, I just felt like there's more of a family aspect. They all like each other for the most part. So it's been good to see that.”
National recruiting analyst Greg Smith added this of the possibility that Epenesa landed in Dade County:
"Being coached by Hall of Famer Jason Taylor carries a lot of weight, and the Hurricanes did their best to make Epenesa feel as if Miami was the place for him during his official visit."
Fellow recruiting analyst Adam Gorney also chimed in part wat through June:
"[Iose} is looking for something different, the word is that Epenesa’s best trip so far was at Utah over the weekend.
The Utes could be a sneaky pick here."
Despite the push from other schools involved, the Hawkeyes were able to land Epenesa thanks to the familial connections, prior success and familiarity.
Epenesa is the is the 14th commit in Iowa's 2025 recruiting class, as he joins Scott Starzyk, Brad Fitzgibbon, Charles Bell, Drew MacPherson, Lucas Allgeyer, Cameron Herron, Mason Woods, Thomas Meyer, Eli Johnson, Jimmy Sullivan, Carson Cooney, Burke Gautcher and Joey VanWetzinga.
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