Iowa landed one of the biggest recruits in modern program history on Thursday evening.

The Hawkeyes earned a commitment from 4-star edge Iose Epenesa, beating out other programs such as Penn State and Utah. Epenesa also made trips to Miami and Missouri this summer prior to announcing his commitment.

Epenesa, of course, is an Iowa football legacy. His father, Eppy, played defensive tackle for the Hawkeyes. His older brother AJ starred at Iowa from 2017-19 and racked up 36.5 tackles for loss for the program before moving on to the NFL. Another older brother, Eric, is a junior linebacker for the Hawkeyes.

Regardless of his family ties, Epenesa is a massive pickup for Iowa. He’s the No. 42 overall prospect and the No. 5 defensive lineman in the country for the class of 2025, per 247Sports Composite rankings. Although he’s currently a Composite 4-star, Epenesa could end up as a 5-star prospect by the end of the cycle — 247Sports already has him listed with that designation.

Purely using 247Sports’ ratings, Epenesa is the third-highest ranked Iowa recruit — assuming he ultimately signs with the program — of the last 15 years. The only higher-ranked prospects to pick Iowa are his older brother AJ and 2022 5-star safety Xavier Nwankpa.

Epenesa is also the No. 1-ranked player from the state of Illinois. Listed at 6-foot-4, 270 pounds, he attends Edwardsville High School in Edwardsville, Illinois.

Iowa is now up to 15 commits in the class of 2025, with Epenesa leading the way. The group sits at No. 50 in the overall rankings, per 247Sports Composite rankings.

Here are some highlights from his junior season of high school: