RECRUITING: Iowa State earns commitment from top in-state linebacker Will Hawthorne

Iowa State has earned a commitment from the top linebacker in the state in Gilbert’s Will Hawthorne.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound prospect is rated as the No. 5 player from Iowa and the No. 71 linebacker prospect in the country.

There’s no place like home 🌪️ pic.twitter.com/lhkH9st1Yz

— Will Hawthorne 3⭐️ (@WillHawthorne10) August 8, 2024

“I’ve grown up going to the games,” Hawthorne said earlier this summer. “I know the ins and outs of everything, I’ve been at the facility lots of times throughout my high school days. (Iowa State’s) got a great thing going. The Stark Performance Center is amazing. The facilities are great – they’re right next to each other… I was looking at the paper the other day and it seems like (CyTown) is going to look pretty cool in the next two or three years if they finish on schedule like they say they will.”

Hawthorne commits to Iowa State over Nebraska, as the pair of programs were in his final two at the stretch end of his recruitment.

He had other offers from Kansas, Kansas State, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Miami (Ohio), Western Michigan, South Dakota, Missouri State, UNI, Air Force, Army, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton and Lehigh.

Hawthorne’s commitment is the sixth Iowa State has earned out of the top 10 in-state prospects by 247 Sports.

𝑯𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝑰𝒐𝒘𝒂

Iowa State has picked up 6️⃣ of the top 10 in-state prospects for the 2025 class

By 247 rankings
1. Thomas Meyer – Iowa
2. Alex Manske – Iowa State
3. Mason Woods – Iowa
4. Jack Limbaugh – Iowa State
5. Will…

— Connor Ferguson (@cfchangs9) August 8, 2024