When students returned to EHS on Tuesday, there was an abnormal amount of Iowa Hawkeye black and gold roaming the halls. Though four and a half hours separate Iowa City and Edwardsville, one could have mistaken EHS for a high school in the heart of Hawkeye Country. The reason for such unspoken spirit day: AJ Epenesa had finally committed to the University of Iowa.

The 6-foot-5-inch 230 pound junior has made his name known from coast to coast. A five star recruit, Epenesa is the top strong-side defensive end in the class of 2017 and is the No. 2 overall recruit according to 247Sports.com. Epenesa will follow in his father’s footsteps, former Iowa walk-on defensive lineman Eppy Epenesa, looking to make a legacy of his own in Iowa City.

The entire Epenesa family made the four and a half hour journey to the heart of Iowa to inform the coaching staff of his commitment to play for the Hawkeyes at Iowa’s junior recruitment day. They showed up unexpectedly in Head Coach Kirk Ferentz’s office with news he couldn’t wait to hear.

“Before I even said it, I could see him in his chair scratching at the arm rests and he was really antsy,” Epenesa said. “Then my words were ‘Coach, the reason my family is up here, my sister drove here from Purdue, is because I want to commit here to Iowa and play Iowa football’ and then he jumped out of his chair, shook my hand and gave me a hug and went through and hugged my mom and my dad and my siblings.”

AJ Epenesa had just made his childhood dream come true.

He grew up yelling for the Hawkeyes, dreaming about Saturdays on the line in Kinnick Stadium. He heard stories of his father’s days dominating for the Hawkeyes. He dreamed of pulling the black and gold over his head, ready for a Big Ten battle. Epenesa was an Iowa Hawkeye before he was an Edwardsville Tiger, and on Sunday he put all suspicions to rest; he would be a Hawkeye long after his final game as an Edwardsville Tiger too.

“I chose it for me,” Epenesa said. “I just enjoy it. I’ve always had a deep love for Iowa and it has been a dream ever since I was little and so now it’s finally becoming a reality. It’s something I’ve always wanted.”

His love for the Hawkeyes is no coincidence and it goes both ways. The Epenesas love the Hawkeyes, and Hawkeye Nation loves the Epenesas.

Eppy Epenesa, AJ’s father, was a walk-on standout on the Iowa defensive line from 1996-1997.

The footprint the older Epenesa left for his son is there, and AJ is well aware of it. Though his dad is a strong influence in his love for Iowa, Epenesa wanted to make one thing clear, his decision was for himself. AJ Epenesa is becoming a Hawkeye because AJ wanted to, not because of his last name.

But still, Eppy Epenesa draws a crowd wherever he goes in Iowa and can be seen repping the signature gold and black any day of the week. Fans stop him while walking downtown in Iowa City or through a basketball game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Though his towering son stands near, the attention quickly goes to the Iowa alum and a crowd that started as just a few becomes a mob of Epenesa love.

“It turns into one huge conversation and the next thing you know we’re clogging up the whole walkway,” AJ Epenesa said.

But AJ is not his dad, nor will he ever be.

“A lot of people know my dad because he played there, but a lot of people are starting to want to know me and they just keep on messaging me and they keep trying to get to know me,” Epenesa said.

Hawkeye fans were not the only fans trying to get to know the highly-touted recruit. Epenesa had 24 other power-five conference schools pitching their program to him including the past three national champions, Alabama, Ohio State and Florida State.

Epenesa had the list of 25 schools narrowed down to three contenders: Iowa, Oklahoma and Notre Dame and the choice didn’t come as easy as one might assume.

“I went to a bunch of other schools and they kind of pulled me away from Iowa and at one point I was like ‘man I don’t want to go to Iowa. I have all these other places that I could go to and these places are real nice I want to go there,’” Epenesa said. “Then after a while I just kept thinking back; I grew up being a huge Hawkeye fan and it has been nothing but that my whole life…I feel like I would have regretted going anywhere else but the place I’ve dreamt about my whole life.”

In the end, it was the childhood dream that topped the list of the nations best programs.

It was suspected by many that Epenesa would pick Iowa but those who awaited his commitment figured it wouldn’t be official until he picked up the Hawkeye hat on national signing day.

But Epenesa and his family had a plan of their own.

“Why would we wait whenever we already know what we want and so better sooner than later instead of making people wait for us,” Epenesa said. “We were there, we were ready and we just wanted to get done with it. I wanted to be open with my love for Iowa and now I can be.”

Epenesa announced his commitment to Iowa on Sunday via Twitter and was instantly bombarded with messages from fans congratulating him and celebrating the commitment of one of the Hawkeye’s biggest recruiting target. His tweet has since received 1,146 retweets and 2,320 likes.

“There’s definitely a lot of love at Iowa and I appreciate that and enjoy that,” Epenesa said.

With all the hype surrounding Iowa’s newest star, it’s easy to forget that he’s still a junior with a season left in the orange and black.

But Epenesa hasn’t forgotten.

“It’s really big and it’s really exciting for me to be committed but I just try to keep it all in perspective and just see that I still have a year here,” Epenesa said. “[I’m] just trying to do everything I can for the high school because right now I am dedicated to play for the high school and to help us win for the high school.”

The 2015 Maxpreps junior All American and 2017 Army All American game commit recorded nine tackles for a loss and three sacks the past season for the Tigers during their 9-1 campaign.

While Epenesa still has a season left to terrorize SWC opponents before he takes to the Big Ten, there are some things he looks forward to when he makes his descent on Hawkeye Nation.

“I always enjoy being there on campus,” Epenesa said. “The atmosphere there, their fan base, it’s definitely got to be the best in the country.”