“Hang in there, buddy”: Iowa confesses to Level III NCAA violation for impermissible text to former Alabama OT Kadyn Proctor

The Iowa Hawkeyes will reportedly confess to a Level III NCAA violation for an impermissible text to Kadyn Proctor.

Proctor started every game at left tackle in 2023 as a true freshman for the Crimson Tide. But following Nick Saban's retirement as head coach, several players, including Proctor, entered the transfer portal.

Kadyn Proctor ultimately decided to transfer to the Iowa Hawkeyes, where he originally committed to out of high school, before switching to Alabama.

Proctor is from Des Moines, Iowa, so he will get to return home. But while Proctor was playing at Alabama, a coach at Iowa sent him a text, and as per The Athletic's Scott Dochterman, the Hawkeyes confessed to it to the NCAA.

"Iowa is in the process of self-reporting a Level III violation with regard to impermissible contact with Kadyn Proctor," Dochterman posted on X Thursday. "It’s in regard to a text sent to Proctor, then at Alabama, last September after tough game in which an Iowa staffer wrote “hang in there, buddy” to Proctor.

"Based on precedent, the punishment is further education for the staffer and admonishment."

Per Dochterman, a Hawekye coach sent Proctor the "hang in there, buddy" text as he struggled in a Southeastern Conference game.

Iowa opens up on illegal text to Kadyn Proctor

According to The Athletic, Iowa athletic director Beth Goetz volunteered the information to the NCAA.

“In the context of what was shared in that message,” Goetz told The Athletic, “it doesn’t lessen the fact that we need to be responsible for what the rules are, but certainly there was a human element to the engagement, and I think that will be clear.

“Anytime we make a mistake, we’re going to hold ourselves accountable and take appropriate actions to ensure we don’t find ourselves back in that same position again.”

It came after Proctor admitted two weeks ago that a Hawkeyes staff sent him a message, leading him to transfer to Iowa.

“Even after I was doing bad in the SEC and struggling, they hit me up and said, ‘We’re proud of you. You’re going to get through this,’” Kadyn Proctor said. “That’s what ultimately helped me with my decision because they still believed in me.”

A Level III NCAA violation would require additional education and perhaps admonishment for the infraction.

But with Iowa self-reporting it, whether or not the school will face any punishment by the NCAA remains to be seen. Goetz, meanwhile, said the school and the coaching staff know what they did wrong and that it won't happen again.

The Iowa Hawkeyes went 10-4 last season, losing to the Michigan Wolverines in the Big Ten championship game. They then suffered a 35-0 loss to the Tennessee Volunteers in the Citrus Bowl.