Rock Island (IL) senior three star ranked offensive tackle recruit Kobe Rios (6-foot-5, 305 pounds) has been going non-stop this summer with football which has included taking part in the 19U USA Football Team USA World Champiuonship Games in Mexico City, Mexico. On Friday Rios finally had some down time and decided to give Northern Iowa his verbal commitment. Rios discusses his decision here.

"I decided that I was ready so I called up the coaches at Northern Iowa and committed," Rios said. "I've always had a ton of family support and now my family can come and see me play in college."

Rios, who also looked hard at schools such as Kent State and SIU explained why he decided to give Northern Iowa his verbal commitment.

"It was really a combination of getting to play closer to home and have my family nearby along with gettin an opportunity to try to earn early playing time at Northern Iowa. Northern Iowa also recruiting me from pretty early on and they also recruited me the hardest out of any other school. The coaches feel that if I can come in and work hard I'll get every chance to compete right away for playing time. I just also really like everything that UNI offers and it's a great school and a winning football program."

Rios, who plans to major in Criminal Justice also discussed the hardest part of the recruiting process for him.

"The hardest part easily was having to call up the other coaches who recruited me and tell them no. You end up building relationships with all of these coaches and making those phone calls was not easy at all."

Rios is also excited to get back with his team for the official start of practices on August 6th.

"I missed about a month with my team because of the 19U Team USA game. I definitely was working hard for that game and now I can't wait to get back with the team and get the season started. I can also just focus on my team and our season now without having to worry about recruiting."

Kobe Rios is verbally committed to Northern Iowa.