Football: Naperville North’s Colin Goebel picks Iowa

Updated: April 21, 2012 7:04PM

Naperville North junior offensive lineman Colin Goebel committed to the University of Iowa on Saturday.

Posting a simple message, “Committed to Iowa, good to be a hawkeye!” to his Facebook account on Saturday afternoon, Goebel announced his intentions to become part of Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz’s 2013 recruiting class.

“We’re excited for him. We feel like he’s done his homework and he knows where he wants to be,” Naperville North coach Sean Drendel said. “So he made his choice. … It was Iowa pretty much from the get-go. They’re the first team to offer him and he really liked their program.”

Illinois and Miami (Fla.) were also heavily considered by Goebel, according to Drendel.

Named the DuPage Valley Conference’s Offensive Lineman of the Year in 2011 as a junior, the 6-4, 275-pound Goebel helped pave the way for Dan Puknaitis to run for 1,079 yards and 14 touchdowns last season.

Goebel joins the likes of former Huskies Matt LaCosse and Nick Lifka as players to earn a scholarship to a BCS school under Drendel.

“I think it was pretty clear-cut in his mind where he was going,” Drendel said of Goebel.

A year after reaching the Class 8A state quarterfinals in Drendel’s first year succeeding Larry McKeon in 2010, the Huskies dropped their final three games to finish 2011 at 5-5.

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