Iowa’s recruiting board is already stretching beyond the 2027 class, and one name in the 2028 group is starting to stand out: Cole Kelly.
The Neuqua Valley High School forward took an unofficial visit to Iowa on Sept. 12, the day of the Cy-Hawk game, and the Hawkeyes have stayed active with him since. Head coach Ben McCollum and assistant Connor Wheeler were among the staff members who made the trip to Naperville, Illinois, to meet with Kelly this month.
Kelly, a 6-foot-7 forward, is rated a four-star prospect and sits at No. 67 nationally in the 2028 class by the 247Sports Composite. He already has a long list of major programs involved, with Iowa, Illinois, Purdue, Nebraska, Ohio State, Wisconsin and others offering scholarships.
What makes Kelly so appealing is the way he fills up every corner of the floor. Neuqua Valley coach Todd Sutton put it plainly: “He does everything,” said Neuqua Valley coach Todd Sutton.
“He’s a phenomenal rebounder. He’s a great passer.
He’s a great finisher in the lane. He’s a good shooter, needs to get better.
But he just knows how to play basketball.”
That rebounding stands out in particular. Sutton said Kelly can turn into a different player when the ball comes off the rim: “He just kind of flips a switch and turns animal mode when it comes to rebounding. It’s pretty fierce.”
Sutton knew he had something unusual on his hands long before Kelly became a national name. The coach said Kelly showed out at a tournament the summer before his freshman year, throwing down seven dunks in one day.
“I think he had seven dunks that day,” Sutton said. “Now these weren’t breakaways.
Anyone could do a breakaway. That’s not hard.
These were in traffic. Baseline drive, just slamming on people’s heads.
I had just never seen anything like it. That’s when I came home and said, ‘This dude is different.’”
Programs around the country see the same thing. Sutton said Purdue head coach Matt Painter was especially impressed when he watched Kelly recently.
“I was with (Purdue head coach) Matt Painter (Wednesday) night and he was kind of drooling,” Sutton said. “He just loves his overall game.
He just loves everything he does. If I’m at Illinois, I put the ball in his hands - and they set a million ball screens - he’s a great passer, someone’s going to get a wide-open shot.
If he’s a three man at Iowa, he’s going to take a lot of 3-point shots and a lot of drives to the hoop because he’s a finisher. So, he can do just about anything.”
Kelly’s school ties also connect him to Iowa. Neuqua Valley is the same program former Hawkeyes quarterback Mark Gronowski attended, and Sutton coached both players on the basketball court. He said Kelly carries himself in a way that reminded him of Gronowski.
“He’s well grounded,” Sutton said of Kelly. “Just a great kid.
No BS. No agenda.
He just wants to play basketball. It’s weird.
We’re not used to these kind of kids. It’s rare.
It’s kind of like Mark Gronowski. He just wants to win… He doesn’t care if he scores 30.
He just wants to win. Most kids are pissed if they don’t get a bunch of shots up.
Not him. He’s just as happy passing as he is shooting.”
With two high school seasons still ahead, Kelly’s recruitment is still wide open. But Iowa is clearly in the mix early, and the Hawkeyes have already put in the work to make sure he knows it.
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