Aaron Graves knew he wanted to become a Hawkeye in June 2019. At this point, the Gowrie (IA) Southeast Valley defenseman verbally pledged his allegiance to Iowa football.
It makes perfect sense that Graves could be more excited than anyone in the Hawkeye ’22 enlistment to show up on campus next month. He’s champing at the bit.
“I feel pure excitement,” Graves told HN. “I’m ready to get this thing rolling.”
Graves (6-5, 270) joins a defensive front featuring three returning starters and several others who have seen significant streaks over the past season. He approaches his arrival ripe.
“I’m going with the humility of not expecting to earn a starting spot, but with enough confidence to know that if I compete and learn the playbook, I could potentially get into the rotation,” he said.
Offseason training centered around basketball and wrestling (yes, he’s competed in both sports) through the winter and now on the track prepares him for the rigors of college football.
“I lift four times a week and do five sprint workouts a week along with distance exercises. I am confident in my physical abilities. I just need to learn the playbook asap,” Graves said.
He believes the first-year Iowa coaches will do what is best for him and the team.
“I’d love to get into the rotation, although I know that’s rare in Iowa for a freshman. If I went on special teams or even wore a redshirt, I would be confident that the staff had my best interest in mind and I wouldn’t come down,” he said.
Scroll to Next
Graves was a man among the boys who led the Southeast Valley to the Class 2A state championship last fall. The two-way lineman recorded 63.0 tackles (43.0 solo, 14.0 for loss) and 7.5 sacks and recovered two fumbles. He started 47 times and averaged 38.0 yards on 26 punts. He received three first-team All-State honors and played in the prestigious All-American Bowl in San Antonio in January.
Graves led the Jaguars basketball team in points (22.0 PPG) and rebounds (8.2 RPG) and finished second in assists (2.8 APG) that winter. On the mat, he finished 31-4 after reaching the state semifinals where he lost to Easton Fleshman, a Hawkeye wrestling commitment. He qualified eighth in the Class 2A shot put at this week’s state track and field meeting.
It will be interesting to see where Graves ends up on the defensive line. He boasts the athleticism to play from the edge, but that could be even more relevant as he moves inwards with his power and leverage. He could start outside and end inside. We will see.
“I love my two positional coaches (Iowa) (Kelvin Bell and Jay Niemann). They have shown me that they are very interested in my skills as a player and that they are happy to work with me. I can’t wait to learn as much as I can from them,” Graves said.
As the first member of the class, Graves watched it come together from start to finish.
“I have a good relationship with the other members of my class. I just haven’t had much face-to-face time with them yet. That’s another thing I’m looking forward to getting to know her better,” he said.
This year, Graves will be dating Kale Krogh, an offensive lineman from Huxley (IA) Ballard High.
The class of 22 discussed goals.
“Right now the consensus is that we want to win as many games as we can and get as far as possible after the season. I guarantee we’ll have more goals set in stone once we’re all together in Iowa City,” Graves said called.
Check out Graves football highlights HERE.