Iowa football suffered a big loss in December 2022 when the state’s five-star offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor decommitted to Alabama.
The Hawkeyes handled the situation well and wished him well.
That approach paid off on Saturday when the Crimson Tide transfer announced his return home.
Shortly after making his decision public, he attended the Iowa men’s basketball game and was the featured performer at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Longtime Alabama coach Nick Saban retired earlier this month, prompting a mass exodus from Tuscaloosa.
The Tide’s loss was Iowa’s gain in Proctor’s case.Proctor (6-7, 360) started all 13 games for Alabama at left tackle in 2023.
He earned all-SEC honors as a freshman.
The graduate of Southeast Polk High from Pleasant Hill, Iowa, verbally committed to Iowa in June 2022. Six months later, he signed with the Tide.
While some Hawkeye fans lashed out at Proctor and his family on social media, Iowa coaches publicly wished him well.
That fact and his friends on the current Iowa team helped him get home.
Mason Richman, who started the last three seasons as Iowa’s left tackle, returns for his senior season in ’24. Gennings Dunker, the right tackle, will also return.
The program also returns starters Logan Jones and Connor Colby at No. 1. Maybe Richman or Dunker will move in to accommodate Proctor. One thing is certain: the newcomer improves the device on paper.
