IOWA CITY — There’s probably no college football program in America that dismisses recruiting-website stars more than Iowa.

The coaches openly pan those high-school player ratings, and that comes from the top in Kirk Ferentz.

Good football players can come from anywhere. Ferentz remembers the first five-star recruit of the Internet age that appeared at Iowa, Atlantic tackle Blake Larsen in the early 2000s. Larsen struggled with injuries and never made Iowa’s depth chart.

Without naming Larsen, Ferentz brought him up when asked about Xavier Nwankpa’s outstanding performance in Iowa’s 25-24 win over Penn State on Oct. 18. On the I-Club circuit, back then, fans would ask constantly about Larsen because they knew of the recruiting hype. For every Larsen or Dan Doering or David Davidkov at I

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