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Palatine's Bostick decides on Iowa

Pandemic football was a blessing to Palatine's Jake Bostick.

Bostick exploded onto the scene in the shortened six-game high school season this past spring. From there, he garnered 19 college football offers, including five from the power-five programs.

On Thursday, Bostick officially announced that he had committed to Iowa.

"I prayed on my decision," Bostick said. "And praise God, I came to a great one. It's really a great day today. It has been awesome, and everyone is excited for me."

Bostick chose Iowa over Illinois, Louisville, Cincinnati, Pitt and Kansas State after taking unofficial visits to Ohio State, which had shown interest, and a visit to Iowa.

"The recruiting process was phenomenal," Bostick said. "We picked it up pretty fast. We wanted honesty and transparency and consistency throughout the entire process. And Iowa fulfilled all those. I had a feeling in my heart, and when your heart feels right, that's it."

Bostick, who had transferred from Fremd to Palatine when his family moved from one side of the Palatine area to the other, was coming into the fall season with just one catch in a varsity football game.

That reception was a touchdown catch in a state playoff game as a sophomore, but it still was just one catch. Really not a whole lot to fill a highlight reel for a kid who wanted to play big-time college football.

When the pandemic canceled football last fall, Bostick hoped to lean on his practice film to attract interest. He also spent time at some recruiting camps.

"I actually had my first offer from Indiana State," he said. "I did not even know that they were going (to watch) practice film. In January after MLK showcase, things began to take off, and then once I had some game film, everything really took off."

Bostick, who is 6-2 and 175, had a huge season for Palatine. He had grown nearly five inches in the off-season and went on to score 9 receiving touchdowns and run back two kicks for touchdowns.

"Being able to get out on the field and show what he could do was very important," Palatine coach Corey Olson said. "Going up and making spectacular catches, making the hard catches, the easy catches, showing his ability to block and his speed was an important thing for him."

Kent State, where his dad, Josh, played, jumped right in. Along with Northern Illinois and other MAC schools, as well as Illinois State.

Then came the power schools.

Bostick also is a tremendous track star. He was the MSL triple jump champion with a jump of 46 feet, 3 inches. He also is a top-rated long jumper with a personal-best 22 feet, 2 inches.

Unfortunately, a strained hamstring kept him out of the state meet for both events.

Bostick becomes the third Northwest Cook player to commit to Iowa in the last three years. St. Viator's Jeremiah Pittman will be a freshman for the Hawkeyes this season, while Barrington's Lukas Van Ness is a redshirt freshman.

Olson said Iowa's Kirk Ferentz was the only head coach to reach out to Bostick.

"The marriage between Jake and Iowa is a real good one," Olson said. "Through the whole recruiting process, there was only one head coach that I had a 10-15 minute conversation with, and that was Kirk Ferentz.

"It was very classy of coach Ferentz. I got to tell him personally that Jake's intangibles are through the roof, that Jake's professionalism is unbelievable."

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