Wednesday has been a busy day for the Iowa Hawkeyes, as they added two new commitments to their 2011 recruiting class.

Ray Hamilton, a TE out of  Strongsville H.S. in Ohio, and John Raymon, a DE/TE from Council Rock H.S. North (Newtown, PA), pledged their allegiances to the black and gold this afternoon.

Hamilton is ranked a three-star recruit by both Scout and Rivals. He is a big kid at 6-foot-5, 230 pounds but can move, claiming a 4.70 40-yard dash. What’s most impressive is the list of schools Hamilton turned down to become a Hawkeye. That list includes Boston College, California, Cincinnati, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Stanford, West Virginia and Wisconsin–among others.

Scoutingohio.com has some good video footage of Hamilton in action. Looks like your typical Iowa tight end–and that’s saying something.

Raymon is listed primarily as a DE. He’s only a couple of pounds bigger than Hamilton at 235 and is 6-foot-5, as well. Neither Rivals or Scout hasRaymon ranked but he attracted offers from Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina State, Purdue, Temple and West Virginia.

Iowa Recruiting Review

Not including Raymon, as his main position is presumably DE, five of the Hawkeyes’ seven commitments are either TEs or WRs. Raymon is the first defensive recruit. This will even itself out but I’d like to see the Hawkeyes make a splash with some higher-ranked defensive recruits, mainly defensive linemen (like Raymon) and linebackers. Looking at the latest depth chart from Rivals, a lot of seniors pop up at those two positions–first and second string.

In another note, it’s always good to see home-grown kids on the list. The Hawkeyes have welcomed two Iowa natives to the team, OL Austin Blythe (Williamsburg) and TE Henry Kreiger-Coble (Mt. Pleasant).

Rivals has Blythe listed as Iowa’s only four-star recruit so far. Scout ranks Blythe three-stars.

According to Rivals, Iowa has recruited fairly well with Blythe (four stars) and JaCorey Shepherd (WR), Ray Hamilton (RB), and Marcus Grant (RB) all ranked at three stars. With Blythe ranked only three stars and Grant dropped to two on Scout, the Hawkeyes look as though they’ve done an average job recruiting this offseason–but it’s hard to tell and there’s still a long way to go.

Here are links to the sites’ Iowa recruit lists:

Scout

Rivals

Meanwhile, the Hawkeyes will once again find themselves playing “catch-up” with Ohio State in terms of recruiting. The Buckeyes have already claimed two five-star and seven four-star players, according the Scout.

Hope that didn’t ruin your evening.

Scout.com shows the Iowa Hawkeyes have thrown their name into the ring for three five-star recruits for 2011. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on whether these high school studs drop the Hawkeyes from their list of possible colleges or stick with them for the long haul.

Below is a list of the three athletes and a brief reason why they would fit in at Iowa.

Cyrus Kouandjio OT (6-6, 291) Dematha Catholic H.S. (Hyattsville, MD)

Kouandjio is from the same school as incoming freshman RB, Marcus Coker. Who wouldn’t love to block for a former teammate at the next level?

Braxton Miller QB (6-3.5, 199) Wayne H.S. (Huber Heights, OH)

Because everybody else goes to Ohio State. It’s time for somebody to step up to the plate and be a true trailblazer.

Jameel Poteat RB (5-11, 200) Bishop McDevitt H.S. (Harrisburg, PA)

After Robinson, Hampton, Wegher and Coker get done tearing up Big Ten defenses, it’ll be Poteat’s turn.

Extra Info:

The Hawkeyes are also interested in 11 four-start recruits.

Austin Blythe of Williamsburg is the first possible Hawkeye-state recruit listed at three stars.

Five-star recruits Cyrus Kouandjio and Jameel Poteat are on Scout.com’s 2011 recruiting board for the Iowa Hawkeyes.

It’s not too early for speculation, right?

Even though this could amount to a crap shoot so early in the game, Kirk Ferentz and his recruiting staff appear to have their sights set high for 2011. Notice all the four-star athletes, too!

Kouandjio is 2011′s No. 1 offensive tackle out of DeMatha Catholic High School (Hyattsville, Md.)–the same school of future Hawkeye RB Marcus Coker. He stands at 6-foot-6 and hits 291 pounds on the scales. While that may seem smallish, remember he’s still got his senior season to develop and add some bulk.

Watch Kouandjio’s Scout.com video. The big guy is relentless, pushing defenders back twenty yards plus!

I’ve already forgotten that kid who went to USC.

Jameel Poteat is Scout.com’s No. 5 RB recruit for 2011 out of Bishop McDevitt High School (Harrisburg, Penn.). He is 5-foot-11, 200 pounds. He’s another physically focused back who runs a 4.48 40.

If the Hawkeyes can stay in the running for these recruits down the stretch–and record another solid season–look for Iowa to possibly return to the top 10 in recruiting classes.

Let’s just hope looking for star athletes this time around pays off for Ferentz and his crew. We don’t want a repeat of how the last top 10 class disintegrated.