A look at Iowa State QB Hunter Dekkers' Iowa high school and college football career
A major update in the sports-gambling investigation affecting Iowa and Iowa State arrived Tuesday, centered on Cyclones quarterback Hunter Dekkers. The Story County Attorney's Office has filed a criminal complaint against Dekkers, charging him with tampering with records related to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation’s probe into sports gambling. Considering Dekkers arrived at Iowa State as the program's highest-ranked quarterback prospect after a prolific Iowa high school football career at West Sioux, this marks a bombshell moment in an investigation that's been short on concrete information to this point.
Here's a look at Dekkers' career up until this point from high school through his 2022 season as the starting quarterback for Iowa State. Hunter Dekkers arrived at Iowa State after a legendary Iowa high school career The West Sioux southpaw set Iowa high school career records for most passing yards (10,628) and touchdown passes (126), as well as several other impressive marks. Dekkers also rushed for 1,214 career yards en route to becoming the only Iowa high school player to record consecutive seasons with 4,000 all-purpose yards.
As a senior, he threw for 3,640 yards and 36 touchdowns while completing 62% of his passes. During Dekkers' tenure, West Sioux went 34-5 and won back-to-back Class 1A state titles in 2017 and 2018. That production, combined with Dekkers' in-state aura, made him a prolific recruit for Iowa State to land.
Hunter Dekkers' was a big recruiting get for Iowa State Dekkers checked in as a four-star prospect on 247Sports Composite, ranked as the No. 2 recruit in Iowa and the No. 13 dual-threat quarterback recruit in the 2020 class.
He committed to Iowa State on June 23, 2019, selecting the Cyclones over offers from Indiana, Purdue, Kansas State, Central Michigan, Northern Iowa, South Dakota, South Dakota State and interest from other programs. Before getting his Iowa State chance, Hunter Dekkers backed up Brock Purdy for two seasons With Brock Purdy still having two seasons left once Dekkers arrived on campus ahead of the 2020 season, Iowa State seemed to have the perfect transition in place. Dekkers appeared in eight games as a backup during the 2020 and 2021 campaigns, piling up 311 yards and three touchdown passes as Purdy's backup.
His most significant action during those two seasons arrived in the 2021 Cy-Hawk game, where Dekkers relieved Purdy and went 11-for-16 for 114 yards and a touchdown in Iowa State's 27-17 loss. Hunter Dekkers' first season as the Iowa State starter was a rocky one Dekkers entered 2022 as the full-time starter and delivered mixed results under center. He earned Big 12 honorable mention honors while throwing for 3,044 yards, the fourth-most in single-season program history.
Dekkers' 66. 1% completion percentage led the conference. But Iowa State went 4-8 after a 3-0 start and won just one conference game under Dekkers.
He finished with 14 interceptions compared to 19 touchdowns. .