SAN ANTONIO – If Kadyn Proctor was not the top offensive tackle in the country and if he was not from Iowa, maybe the Hawkeyes would have won out in his recruitment.
So many top prospects choose to play college ball closer to home. But for Proctor, getting away to get challenged is what appealed to him most. So after taking a late visit to Alabama, the Pleasant Hill (Iowa) Southeast Polk five-star flipped his commitment from the Hawkeyes to the Crimson Tide.
“It was definitely a tough decision, especially two weeks, one week before you’re going to be signing,” Proctor said at All-American Bowl practice. “But I just felt like it was what I needed to do, step out of my comfort zone and just go compete with the best out there. That’s what made me flip and go down there and have fun and maybe be out in three years.
“If I go [to Iowa] and everybody thinks highly of me already and it’s like I’m viewed as a really good, top player already. I don’t like that.”
Oregon got Proctor on campus in December and Colorado tried to make a run at him but the biggest draw was to Alabama.
The Crimson Tide have produced elite offensive tackles before and there are more in the pipeline now. Proctor felt going to Tuscaloosa would be the maximum challenge, instead of resting on his laurels and being the known top dog by staying in Iowa.
“I need to get messed up before I can be the best player,” Proctor said. “I go to Alabama, there’s a good chance I start but if I don’t start it makes sense because it’s Alabama, they have guys who do this for real.”
The five-star standout who looked great on Day 1 of practice visited Alabama over the summer. There was definitely interest there.
And then on this final visit in December, coach Nick Saban closed the deal.
“Final pitch was just the need for me and just telling me I was a really good player, doing what I needed to do,” Proctor said. “He said I’m a very smart kid and he believes I can come in there under him and do what I need to do and get out in three years and be one of the best in the league.”
Proctor lives in this world. He’s not foolish. A commit to Iowa since the summer and recruited by the Hawkeyes long before that, Proctor realizes the ramifications of his decision.
Living less than two hours from Iowa City with a former Pleasant Hill Southeast Polk five-star teammate already on the Hawkeyes in Xavier Nwankpa, it would have made perfect sense for Proctor to join forces again.
But it just wasn’t meant to be.
“It was definitely hard to tell [the Iowa coaches] I was decommitting,” Proctor said. “I felt bad but also I’m trying to do this for me. It’s not about how the coaches feel. I just needed to do what I needed to do.”
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