Eno Benjamin, a 5-foot-10, 203-pound running back from Wylie (Texas) East made a commitment to Iowa and things looked like they were all set and he would be playing his college ball in the Big 10 Conference.

But as time unwound itself the relationship between the two parties fell apart and now the four-star running back is back on the market considering programs like Arizona State, Missouri and Utah among a number of others.

Since his decommitment two more players from Texas have made decommitments from Iowa (Gavin Holmes and Beau Corrales) as well, causing many on social media platforms to point the finger at Benjamin, thus compelling him to put together an in-depth open letter that discusses his Iowa recruitment in more detail and to move past a relationship that just didn't seem meant to be.

----------

Eno Benjamin's Open Letter About Iowa Recruitment and Decommitment:

As we all know, a lot of things have gone down since I committed and de-committed from the Hawkeyes. I’ve watched people make up their own stories about what happened. I told myself things weren’t meant to be and that I would move on.

But as hard as I’ve tried to move on, it seems like I keep being drawn back in by false claims on my character. I didn’t want to tell my story, but I think it is now time everyone knows my side and how it actually went down:

It started back in March before I was verbally committed to Iowa. There were two assistant coaches who recruited me hard for the university. We spoke almost every day. In April, I swung up north to visit 3 schools – Michigan, Iowa and Northwestern. I loved all those visits.

After those visits, I began to feel pressure of commit, to the University of Iowa, specifically. I had a Top 10 at the time and wanted to check out all of the schools before I did anything. I was 16 years old at that time and with all that was going on I didn’t know how to simply tell a coach no and that I was not ready. I had visits set up to others schools, but canceled them after committing.

I was very excited at the time. Words couldn’t describe the feeling. I was getting ready to start spring practice without having to worry about where I was going to college. Best of all, I could start the season without worrying about recruiting and could just sell out for my team.

In June, the Iowa coaches came to Dallas for a satellite camp at one of the local high schools. I went to the camp and brought up the fact that I still wanted to take my visits. They were confused as to why I wanted to do that and asked me questions. But never once did the two coaches say I couldn’t do it or even that Iowa had a no-visit rule set in place.

Before I committed to Iowa, me and some friends, who are highly-recruited players, agreed that we would take some visits together. We wanted to hang out, talk about the recruiting process and experience it together. Up to this point, I had no idea about Iowa having a no-visit policy. I honestly never knew schools had those policies. I watched friends in the 2015 and 2016 classes commit to places and saw the coaches there encouraging them to make sure they go on visits so the player would know if it was where he actually wanted to be. I thought that was normal for everyone.

So, September rolls around and I get my official scholarship letter from the University of Iowa. I’m reading it and this is the first time I see “you cannot visit other campuses.” All the recruits from Texas talked about it when we got the letter. Everyone was completely blindsided by it.

On September 17, my official to the University of Missouri was set for me and my friends. I didn’t tell the coaches which week the visit would be happening, but that doesn’t mean I never told the two coaches that the visit would happen. I’m a smart young man. I knew that there would be media at the game. Pictures would be taken. It would be Tweeted that I was at the game. My intentions were to not hide anything.

A few days later, I spoke on the phone with Coach Ferentz. We talked about the Missouri visit and he was upset I didn’t tell anyone about it. I owned up to that even though I told the two coaches I would be taking it. I didn’t say anything to Coach Ferentz about my conversations with them. He told me if I needed to step back from all of this and take visits that it was fine. He wasn’t going to hold me back from that. I told him that I understood and next time I would communicate better.

A couple of days later, I messaged the two assistant coaches and told them that I wanted to step back from everything and take my visits. At that point, I was heavily encouraged to stay committed to Iowa. Things were said like, ”No Eno, this isn’t what we want you to do. This isn’t the route we want to go.” I told them I needed to take the Arizona State official visit on Oct. 8. They then said “if you want to take your visits, go ahead. But could we please try and keep this out of the media and keep it on the down low?”



So, I took my visit and the two coaches were well aware that I was in Tempe. They proceeded hoping I wouldn’t be caught on campus. I was actually even texting one of the coaches during the game and telling him what was going on as I got to hang out with former Hawkeye commit, Frank Darby:

And again, before I visited ASU I told one of the coaches that I wanted to step back. Shortly after this message, he called me and talked me out of de-committing:



Soon after, things began getting weird with the Iowa staff. I came to find out that the two coaches that I operated with never told the rest of the staff that I was taking the ASU visit. And when it all blew up publicly, those coaches never stood up for me to have my back. They didn’t say they knew about the visit beforehand and that they told me they were okay with it as long as it didn’t get out.

When it did come out, I needed to speak with Coach Ferentz on the phone. I knew I need to. I wanted to. But before I did, the assistant coaches told me things like:

“Make sure you think before you say what you want to say.”

“I’m freaking out I am in a bad spot because of this.”

“I wish I was straight and up front with you, Eno. This all could have been avoided.”

“We should have been harder about telling you no about taking these visits.”

“If we can bounce back from the situation, we won’t have any of these problems again”



I got a whole lot of that from the two coaches. I felt bad and decided I’d take the heat because nothing more could happen to me. I was worried about the coaches’ jobs. I didn’t want to see them lose their jobs over this. I still hope they don’t lose their jobs. Even after all this happened, I still respect and have love for that staff.

I expressed myself to coach Ferentz and told him that I was deeply sorry for everything that happened. I just didn’t tell him about what the two coaches told me to do. He didn’t have all the information and was following his policy.

While my situation was developing, I told the others that I may or may not be a part of this class. I even expressed that to the top dog in the class, A.J. Then, I told them all what happened in a group message after Iowa and I parted ways. That’s all.



The other players that de-committed have parents the listen to. They’re not listening to me. It’s very silly for people to say I am behind the other de-commitments. If that’s truly what you think, you really don’t know me.

A case in point: Todd Sibley, who is committed to Pitt, messaged me saying “Iowa has been on my neck since you de-committed.” I told him nothing but good things about the place and if he ever needed more info to message me at anytime. I did nothing to disparage the Hawkeyes.

I understand the Iowa coaches aren’t allowed to speak about recruits until they sign. This is the first time I’ve spoke out on my situation. So, I’m not sure how the untrue things being said about me got out there other than through rumor and speculation. I would have hoped people would think about that before spreading the untruths but they didn’t. That’s why I felt the need to speak up.

As much as I wanted to be in Iowa City, things changed and went a different route. I wish things could have been handled differently, but I have my faith in God and I know he will not lead me anywhere where I don’t belong.

Thanks for reading.

God bless you y'all

Eno Benjamin.

----------

Benjamin has taken three official visits to Utah, Arizona State and Missouri and he and his Wylie East teammates are set to play Lancaster (Texas) High in the 60 million dollar Allen Eagles Stadium on Friday night in the third round of the TXHSFB 5A playoffs.

He is ready to put Iowa behind him and look to the future.

"I got a feel for some places," Benjamin said in regards to his recruitment. "I still have some schools in the Big 10, but the Pac-12 opened my eyes to some things and I am interested in that conference over there."

"I have taken three official visits and I have two more o the list and I really have nothing set up and I am just playing things by ear and see where we go from there."

Through 12 games this season, Benjamin, who has served as his team's primary quarterback in a shotgun-based run-heavy offense, has run for 2,429 yards and 30 touchdowns on 7.4 yards per carry, while throwing for 464 yards, six scores, and three interceptions.

The 2016 campaign is Benjamin's fourth season on varsity and his third to rush for at least 1,700 yards. Benjamin has almost 7,400 rushing yards in his high school career.