By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa defensive coordinator Phil Parker had just finished giving a brief and very optimistic overview of his 2025 defense to a group reporters at media day last Friday when a member of the media responded not with a question, but with more of a statement:

“Xavier Nwankpa has got a lot to prove this year.”

This was Parker’s response:

“I don’t know if it’s so much a lot to prove,” Parker said. “I just think that we moved him to a different position at free safety. I think he’s doing really well and is doing a great job at that position right now, and he’s growing and he’s learning.

“I don’t know if anybody has something to prove. We’re just asking them to go out there and best the best they can be.”

The statement about Nwankpa having a lot to prove didn’t just come out of nowhere.

Nwankpa, a former five-star recruit from Southeast Polk High School, and now the starter at free safety for the Hawkeyes, is sort of a victim of his own success and reputation that followed him from high school to college.

He has yet to make first, second, or even third-team All-Big Ten, so to some, Nwankpa as a former five-star recruit has been a disappointment. He was also caught out of position on a couple plays last season, including one that led to a long touchdown pass for Iowa State in its 20-19 victory over Iowa last season at Kinnick Stadium.

The narrative that Nwankpa still has lot to prove, fair or not, comes from those who feel he hasn’t lived up to the enormous hype.

But in fairness to Nwankpa, he has been a key contributor since his freshman season, and he started at strong safety in each of the past two seasons.

He has shifted to free safety for this season as Parker pointed out, partly to make room for Koen Entringer at strong safety.

Entrigner, a junior from Ypsilanti, Michigan, is being promoted as a rising star by both Iowa and by some in the media.

Entringer has in some ways seized the spotlight from Nwankpa, including being picked by his Iowa teammates to represent Iowa at Big Ten Media Day last month in Las Vegas.

Nwankpa, meanwhile, just quietly goes about his business.

He speaks softly and rarely has much to say to the media.

He isn’t rude or stand-offish. He just doesn’t seem to want or need the spotlight or the attention that comes with it, which is sort of unusual for a player that was so used to being in the spotlight while in high school.

Nwankpa was asked at Iowa’s media day last Friday if he is happy with his Hawkeye career to date.

“I am,” he said. “I’ve been put in this position for a reason. So I just keep grinding every day to get better, and then eventually, if it all works out, take that net step.”

The next step for the 6-foot-2, 215-pound Nwankpa would obviously be a career in the NFL, which every five-star recruit coming out of high school probably believes is well within reach.

But for now, the NFL can wait.

“Right now, no,” Nwankpa said when asked if the NFL is at the front of his mind. “I’m worried about the practice we’ve got tomorrow and the game coming up in two weeks.

“So, I’m really putting that to the side and trying to be the best version of myself and do whatever I can do to help this team win.”

Nwankpa admits that college hasn’t been all that he expected after having been so heavily recruited and so highly decorated in high school. He has been humbled along the way.

“You know, for what I had done in high school, I was thinking NFL dreams come in three years,” he said. “But I was put in this position. It’s year four, my last year. I was put in this position, so I’m excited this year to go out with all these guys and just be super competitive and have a great season and have fun with all these guys.

“So, I’m just enjoying my senior year.”

Nwankpa has learned since becoming a Hawkeye that the recruiting stars that he earned in high school don’t really mean much anymore.

He enjoyed the perks and the accolades that came with being a five-star recruit, but that was a different time and a different place.

“You could be the lowest ranked guy on the team or the highest ranked guy on any team and it’s competitive every day,” Nwankpa said of playing in college. “Everyone here was the best player on all their teams basically growing up in high school.

“Just coming out here and being the best version of yourself every day and that will get you where you want to go.”

Nwankpa could have easily left Iowa in this age of the transfer portal and NIL, but he has chosen to stay the course and to finish what he started.

He picked Iowa over Ohio State coming out of high school, partly because he felt a sense of loyalty to his home-state school.

Nwankpa’s former high school teammate, Kadyn Proctor, on the other hand, signed with Alabama in high school, and then transferred to Iowa briefly in 2024 before switching back to Alabama where he is now considered one of the top college offensive linemen in the country.

This isn’t to suggest that Proctor was being disloyal to Iowa because he ultimately had to do what he believes is in his best interest, as is the case with every college athlete.

But Proctor’s situation should make you appreciate Nwankpa’s loyalty to Iowa even more.

And while recruiting rankings might not mean much once a player enters college, Nwankpa would have almost certainly been a hot commodity if he had entered the portal, partly because of his success in high school, and because he showed right away as a Hawkeye that he could compete at this level.

Unlike some five-star recruits that were used to being pampered, Nwankpa has shown no signs of entitlement, at least when dealing with the media.

He comes off as being humble and as a team-first guy.

Nwankpa was asked at media day if there has been anything about playing college football that has surprised him, or that wasn’t in his thoughts much coming out of high school.

His answer was a reminder of what playing college football is really all about.

“For me, I’d say the relationships I’ve built, even away from the game of football, all these guys since I’ve been here the last four years are my best friends,” Nwankpa said. “They’ve quickly become some of your closest people, so that’s probably been the biggest thing for me.”

Nwankpa is excited to see what he and Entringer and the other defensive backs can accomplish this season.

“I think we’re super-athletic, talented guys,” he said. “And we’re on the same page and we’re flying around making tremendous plays out there.”