Recruiting Mailbag: Which school has JJ Kohl eliminated? Who is Iowa State's most realistic 2023 basketball target?

Hello, friends. Welcome, once again, to the Recruiting Mailbag.

Sometimes, offers just make you smile. 

That happened last week.

Dowling Catholic quarterback Jaxon Smolik, our No. 23 in-state 2023 prospect, landed his first offer from Northern Iowa. Smolik broke his collarbone in Week 2 this fall and missed most of his all-important junior season. I can only imagine the sadness he felt, realizing crucial opportunities to impress college coaches were suddenly gone.

But he came back quickly enough to lead the Maroons to a Week 8 win over Valley and performed well over the final three games. And then he's had an excellent offseason since then. Now, the Panthers have given him a full-ride athletic scholarship offer to play quarterback for them.

So, yeah, I smiled. I'm happy for Smolik. He has more than earned this opportunity, and I have a feeling UNI won't be his last offer.

OK. Now, let's get to this week's questions.

What is the latest with Iowa State and JJ Kohl after Brayden Dorman's commitment elsewhere?

Four-star Colorado quarterback Brayden Dorman had Iowa State in his top five schools before he announced his commitment on Tuesday. Dorman picked Arizona over the Cyclones, Colorado, Mississippi State and Oregon State, leaving Iowa State with offers out to four available quarterbacks.

One of those is Ankeny four-star junior JJ Kohl, who has picked up a flurry of offers in the past few weeks. So, where do Iowa State and Kohl stand right now?

MORE: Is Iowa still recruiting JJ Kohl? Where does Iowa State stand with him?

Well, Iowa State is the school that’s going after him the hardest, Kohl told me last week. With his skill level, ranking and family connection to the Cyclones, can you blame them?

“I’d say Iowa State is going after me the hardest right now,” Kohl said. “They’re sending me a lot of letters, a lot of stuff. I’m talking to coach (Matt) Campbell, coach (Joel) Gordon a lot.”

On Iowa, Kohl said: “I’m keeping them in my corner. You never know if something crazy could happen like Marco (Lainez) decommitting or something like that. It’s a pretty good program. Kirk Ferentz is doing a lot of good things, so they’re definitely still up there.”

He still has a bit of time before he makes his decision, but he has eliminated at least one school from consideration. Kohl told me that Nebraska is now "off the board" after William Watson III committed to the Huskers on Tuesday.

That still leaves these options for Kohl: Boston College, Florida State, Indiana, Iowa (who already has a 2023 quarterback commit in Lainez), Iowa State, Kansas, Memphis, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Missouri, Penn State and Pitt. The Cyclones have some tough competition for Kohl, but they’ll know where he’s going in the coming months, as Kohl told me he wants to commit by the summer. -Alyssa Hertel

As of today, who is Iowa State basketball's most realistic target in 2023?

There's a well-established group of 2023 targets for Iowa State, which is also planning to be actively involved in the NCAA transfer portal this offseason.

The biggest name on the list is probably Omaha Biliew, the five-star forward who spent his first two high school seasons in Iowa at Dowling Catholic and Waukee before transferring to juggernaut Link Year Prep in Missouri over the offseason. The 6-foot-8 talent was originally planning to unveil his top five schools on Feb. 14, and Iowa State was expected to make the cut. He had a change of plans, though, and instead is not releasing a list and is keeping his options open.

Iowa State remains squarely in the mix, and programs such as Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Kansas, LSU and Oregon are also involved.

While I do think the Cyclones have as good a shot as anyone with Biliew, I wouldn't call him T.J. Otzelberger's most realistic 2023 target.

I'd give that nod to Milan Momcilovic, the four-star stretch forward out of Otzelberger's stomping grounds in Milwaukee. More specifically, the 6-8 athlete plays for Pewaukee High School, which is about 20 miles west of downtown Milwaukee.

We've already seen Otzelberger and assistant coach J.R. Blount flex their Milwaukee recruiting muscles by keeping Tyrese Hunter signed with the Cyclones even after Steve Prohm was fired. Iowa State offered Momcilovic back in September and he's been on campus twice since then — once unofficially in October and a second time for an official visit in December.

Momcilovic's other offers are from Marquette, Minnesota, Oral Roberts and Milwaukee. He was under the radar when Iowa State offered and has since blossomed into a top-50, or top-100 at-minimum prospect. He will likely generate more interest playing Nike EYBL ball with Phenom Universe this spring and summer, so the Cyclones will rely on those early established, long-standing relationships in this recruitment.

The Cyclones have been pretty selective with their 2023 offers so far, so none feel like super longshots at this point. But Momcilovic feels like one that, if he decided today, I'd be surprised if Iowa State wasn't his No. 1 or No. 2.  - Matthew Bain

Which top football recruits performed the best at state wrestling?

Just to preface this, a lot of Iowa’s top wrestlers double as pretty successful football players. But we’re looking at football recruits, meaning they hold offers from or are committed to play football at Division I programs.

For starters, Waukee Northwest’s Ben Reiland gave probably the most unexpected performance. He pinned No. 1 seed Maddux Borcherding-Johnson (another wrestler/football recruit headed to Iowa) to earn a spot in the Class 3A, 285-pound finals. There, Reiland pinned Waverly-Shell Rock’s Jake Walker with one second left on the clock to win the state title. Borcherding-Johnson placed third.

No shock here: Iowa City High’s Ben Kueter took first in 3A at 220 pounds. The three-star junior linebacker won his third individual state title and is still undefeated on the mat. No wonder he’s committed to the Hawkeyes for both football and wrestling.

Logan-Magnolia’s Rex Johnsen took second in Class 1A at 185, and East Buchanan’s Cody Fox finished fourth. Fox committed to Iowa football the summer after his freshman year and Johnsen will head to Wyoming after graduation.

Southeast Valley’s Aaron Graves finished fourth in Class 2A at 285 pounds. That’s still an impressive place for the Iowa football commit to land, considering he went from wrestling on Thursday to Southeast Valley’s basketball game that night and back to wrestling the next morning. - Alyssa Hertel

Did Kadyn Proctor ever wrestle for Southeast Polk?

Listen, I know we’d all love to see Kadyn Proctor flatten people on a wrestling mat the way he does on the football field, but that’s not going to happen.

Our very own Cody Goodwin did tell me, however, that Proctor tried it out last season.

At 6-8 and 335 pounds, the five-star offensive tackle would need to cut a lot of muscle just to get down to wrestling’s maximum heavyweight limit of 285 pounds. He’s built for success on the football field. And Proctor already has a winter sport, in which his performance is just as impressive, just in a different way.

He’s the starting center on Southeast Polk’s basketball team, averaging 9.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, and college coaches have loved seeing his light feet and athleticism on the hardwood. - Alyssa Hertel

If you had to compare an Iowa athlete to Kansas point guard Joseph Yesufu, who would it be?

Shoutout to Jordan Guskey, the USA TODAY Network's Kansas beat reporter, for the question. It's a good one, because college basketball fans in Iowa, especially Drake fans, are well-aware of Kansas point guard Joseph Yesufu's unique skills.

(For those of you who don't know, Yesufu was a relatively unheralded prospect out of Bolingbrook, Illinois, who committed to Drake in the Class of 2019. After an up-and-down freshman season, the 6-foot Yesufu exploded as a breakout player his sophomore year and transferred to Kansas last offseason. Got it? OK cool.)

So ... let me think. Which Iowa basketball prospect compares most to Yesufu?

Gotta be relatively undersized ... gotta be built like a bowling ball ... gotta be an absolute bulldog who plays bigger than his size ... gotta be aggressive with a quality 3-point shot.

And all that is Blaise Porter, the 2023 point guard out of New London.

Porter has been thought of as one of Iowa's top 2023 talents for a couple years now, and he was the second in-state prospect in that class to receive a Division I offer when Bryant offered in June 2020. Although others in his class have surpassed him in our rankings, such as Waukee Northwest wing Pryce Sandfort and Indianola combo guard Drew Kingery, the 6-foot Porter still sits firmly in the class' top five.

Bryant and IUPUI are his current D-I offers. Porter told me this week that, beyond those offers, his most interest lately has come from Iowa, Drake, South Dakota State and Boise State. 

It looks like he's pretty physically developed and might not grow much more, but Porter can still make a big impact in his 6-foot frame because he is so sturdy, and his vertical leaping ability allows him to play around the rim — both traits that Yesufu has, too.

Porter, like Yesufu, is an explosive point guard who is super quick and can get to the rim at will. He's a high-quality shooter, too, averaging 17.6 points and 5.4 assists per game while shooting 45.5% from long range; Yesufu shot 38.4% from outside during his breakout sophomore season. - Matthew Bain

Matthew Bain is the deputy sports editor for the Des Moines Register. He still covers some recruiting, too. Contact him at mbain@dmreg.com and follow him on Twitter @MatthewBain_.