Iowa football earns commitment from South Dakota State defensive lineman Bryce Hawthorne

Posted by author January 4, 2025 Football

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Iowa football received some good news from the transfer portal on Saturday afternoon.

South Dakota State defensive line transfer Bryce Hawthorne announced his commitment to the Hawkeyes.

The defensive tackle, who is entering his redshirt sophomore season, saw extensive playing time for the Jackrabbits in 2024 and was named an FCS freshman All-American. The 6-foot-3, 285-pound Minnesota native recorded 22 total tackles, 5½ tackles for loss and 4½ sacks for a team that made a run to the FCS semifinals. According to Pro Football Focus, he had an impressive season grade of 83.0 in 307 snaps over 14 games. He generated 29 total pressures and 18 quarterback hurries, per PFF.

Hawthorne will have three seasons of eligibility remaining for Iowa. He’ll project as a rotational defensive tackle. The Hawkeyes will return Aaron Graves and added Central Michigan senior Jonah Pace in the transfer portal; both are likely to start. Jeremiah Pittman was in a rotational role last season. Between Graves, Pace, Pittman and now Hawthorne, the Hawkeyes have restocked a position of need via the portal.

Iowa, of course, is hoping to land the commitment of Hawthorne’s former South Dakota State teammate, quarterback Mark Gronowski. The FCS player of the year in 2023 visited Iowa this past weekend.

Another prominent South Dakota State transfer, wide receiver Griffin Wilde, committed to Northwestern on Saturday. Northwestern’s offensive coordinator is Zach Lujan, who was SDSU’s offensive coordinator in 2022 and 2023 during back-to-back FCS national-championship runs.