In recruiting, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. And the Iowa football program was the beneficiary of another Big Ten program’s chaos on Monday.
UCLA fired head coach DeShaun Foster earlier this season after a disastrous start to his second season in Los Angeles. As with any coaching change in college football, lots of recruits pulled their commitment from the Bruins and reopened their recruitments to the rest of the country.
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One of those former Bruin commits just announced his intentions to become a Hawkeye on Monday.
Three-star wide receiver Xavier Stinson took to X on Monday night to share that he’s committed to the Hawkeyes. Stinson chose Iowa over offers from Indiana, Illinois, Arkansas, Pitt, and Vanderbilt, among others.
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound receiver from Vero Beach, Fla., is the 17th commit in Iowa’s 2026 recruiting class. Stinson is currently helping lead Vero Beach High School to an undefeated season, as they’re 11-0 and still alive in the Florida high school football playoffs. Stinson has 32 receptions for 513 yards and six receiving touchdowns in 11 games played this year. As a junior, he had 43 receptions for 740 yards and seven touchdowns for Vero Beach.
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He’s the third wide receiver commit in Iowa’s 2026 class, joining fellow three-stars Brody Schaffer and Diondre Smith. Stinson is the highest-rated out of that group, according to 247Sports. 247Sports ranks Stinson as the nation’s 124th wide receiver and as its No. 82 player from the Sunshine State.
This is a big recruiting win for Kirk Ferentz and company, and Stinson should fit in well in Tim Lester’s style of offense. A job well done by the Hawkeye recruiting staff.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa football lands commitment from former UCLA WR pledge
