Iowa

Jayden McGregory’s football journey from public parks to Division I | Senior Superlative

Published

5 months ago

October 15, 2025

Press Room

Jayden McGregory’s football journey from public parks to Division I | Senior Superlative

Jayden McGregory, a top Iowa high school football senior, began his athletic career at a young age, influenced by his mother.
He transferred from Des Moines North to Valley to face higher competition, leading to success in both football and basketball.
McGregory’s decision to focus on being a defensive back at camps led to numerous Division I offers, and he has committed to Louisville.

This story is part nine of a series on the Des Moines Register’s top 10 Iowa high school football seniors. Each week until the end of the season, we will feature a different senior, showing readers a side of them that goes beyond the Friday night lights.

Sometimes, the best sports stories begin in public parks.

There is a quiet green space on the east side of the Drake neighborhood, Good Park, made up of a large grass field on one end, a pair of basketball hoops and a chain link fence-enclosed row of tennis courts on the other, with three swings, a playground, a gazebo and a splash pad sandwiched in between.

One seemingly unending breeze funnels through the trees, and there’s a city soundtrack produced by an ambulance speeding down University Avenue and cars rolling past on Interstate 235.

Jayden McGregory spent a lot of time at Good Park, one of the places where he played football as a child.

It’s one of the places that turned the Valley senior into the athlete he is: one of the top football players not only in Iowa but in the entire country.

McGregory’s athletic endeavors began early, and never stopped

McGregory was born to be an athlete.

Growing up, he spent plenty of time in the halls of a high school and competed in organized sports by the time he was 2 years old. And his first word, “ball,” was a sign of things to come.

Marissa Townsley doesn’t recall a time when her son wasn’t around sports. She was a sophomore at Des Moines North High School when she had him, and with an athlete for a mom, he tagged along to her basketball games. McGregory can still recall those memories, like when he shot a basketball at halftime of those Polar Bears contests.

That’s the sport he fell in love with first, and Townsley realized early on that athletics were going to be a large part of both of their lives.

“On Saturday mornings, he wasn’t watching cartoons,” Townsley laughed. “He was watching ESPN, and he was like 4 years old.”

She put him in a basketball league for 3- and 4-year-olds when he was 2. He skipped flag football and began playing tackle ball at 5 years old, because he just wanted to be in pads – like the professional athletes he’d started to idolize.

Townsley thought that her son would take one or two hits and be done with football, but that obviously did not happen. During his youth football days – growing up on teams sponsored by the Des Moines Parks and Recreation department – he made all-star teams for sixth and seventh graders when he was still in fourth grade.

McGregory’s life revolved around sports, which meant Townsley’s life revolved around sports.

She started to volunteer with his youth programs. While McGregory practiced or played, Townsley would help with bookkeeping or registration. The pair would wake up early to shoot hoops – on any net they could find – before school and work. Townsley turned into McGregory’s most consistent practice partner.

It wasn’t always easy for the single mother of three – McGregory and his younger siblings, Amari and Mariah – to keep up with her oldest child’s aspirations.

“At times, it really broke my heart because I’m a single mom, and so having to sometimes make those sacrifices or tell him no was hard,” Townsley said. “It was a lot of, ‘If we have the money.’ Financially, that was the hard part. Showing up was the easy part.”

But the work they put in together paid off.

McGregory gravitated toward the quarterback position, and that’s where he played during most of his youth football years and even into his first season at Des Moines North. He didn’t have an easy transition to the high school game, though.

He didn’t register any statistics in the Polar Bears’ first game of his freshman season. In game two – a win over Des Moines East – he was credited with half a tackle. And then came game three.

The freshman receiver caught two passes totaling 32 yards from senior quarterback Nick Crispin. But then, Crispin got hurt in the middle of that game, and then-head coach Eric Addy put McGregory in at quarterback. He completed three of three passes and threw one touchdown pass, but the Polar Bears lost.

That’s when the real work began.

“That Saturday, I had to learn the whole playbook from the quarterback’s standpoint,” McGregory said. “It was a roller coaster, for sure, in my freshman year. But it was a good learning lesson.”

Before the start of his sophomore year, McGregory transferred from North to Valley.

The decision to leave the community that had essentially raised him didn’t come easy. But McGregory and Townsley both knew that getting recruited out of the Des Moines Public School programs was an uphill battle, and they understood that consistently playing against a higher level of competition would only aid his development.

He emerged as one of the top two-way players on the Tigers’ roster in his first year in West Des Moines, recording 247 receiving yards and three touchdowns on offense and 16.5 tackles, one fumble recovery taken 70 yards for a touchdown and two interceptions on defense.

That success continued into his junior season, where he helped Valley to a state runner-up finish, recording 173 receiving yards and one touchdown plus 13.5 tackles and three interceptions – including a pick six – along the way.

And his accomplishments weren’t just limited to the football field.

McGregory earned a spot in the starting lineup of Valley’s basketball team, and he played a large role in the Tigers’ back-to-back state championships in 2024 and 2025.

He missed out on the three–peat, with Valley also winning the title in 2023, since McGregory still played for Des Moines North. In that 2023 season, he led the Polar Bears in points, rebounds, assists and steals per game as a freshman.

McGregory’s athleticism – on the gridiron, on the hardwood – made him a standout in Iowa.

It also made college coaches around the country take notice of his talents.

McGregory’s motivation leads to Division I offers

Quarterback, wide receiver, cornerback, safety, punt returner, kick returner and punter.

“That’s really it,” said McGregory, after rattling off all the positions he played during his four-year, two-program high school career.

So, the ‘athlete’ distinction – given to two-way players who were recruited as both an offensive and defensive player – fit McGregory perfectly. He’ll be a defensive back in college, and that’s by design, since it’s not a position that he just fell into naturally.

The motivation that pushed McGregory to excel in sports at such a young age is also the reason why he stood out at college prospect camps.

Always the quarterback on his youth football teams, he quickly noticed that it was the largest position group at almost every prospect camp he attended. McGregory noticed something else, too: the defensive backs were typically the smallest group.

“He quickly noticed how slim the lines were at the defensive back position,” Townsley recalled. “Everybody wants to be the quarterback, and everybody wants to be a receiver. Jayden just wanted to be seen.”

He’d never really played that position before, but he’d always been athletic, and he took to it easily. And that one decision to camp at a position unfamiliar to him changed McGregory’s life.

In the summer after his freshman year, McGregory landed his first Division I offer. It came from Iowa State, and it came after one of those prospect camps. He earned a second offer – from Minnesota – that summer, but it wasn’t until after his first season at Valley that the floodgates opened.

Over the next year and a half, he picked up offers from Arkansas, Florida State, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kansas State, Louisville, Michigan, Michigan State, Missouri, Nebraska, Southern Miss, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

He climbed to a four-star ranking – the second highest in the recruiting world – by 247Sports Composite, making him one of the top 375 players in the country in his senior class.

On July 7 – a date partially picked to coincide with his No. 7 jersey – McGregory committed to Louisville. It marked the end of a recruitment process that had brought him and his mother even closer together.

When his recruitment picked up, Townsley made one thing very clear: education came first, and football came second.

“If his grades were not there, then this does not happen,” Townsley laughed. “I made sure he understood like, Cs are average and please don’t bring me a C because you’re not an average kid.”

She not only pushed him to separate himself academically, but she also did everything she could to foster his football dreams. Townsley spent a lot of time on the road with her oldest son, making sure he set foot on almost every campus where he held an offer.

She spent those hours in the car – long weekends trying to stop at three or four colleges in one trip – trying to prepare McGregory for life after high school.

McGregory wouldn’t change anything about that relationship – from growing up in the halls of Des Moines North to long days on the road chasing his dream. It’s always been him and Townsley, and a dozen-or-so Division I offers didn’t change that.

“Man, my mom’s the reason why I’m here today,” McGregory said with a smile. “She put me in so many great positions, like I can’t thank her enough. It was fun growing up, just me and my mom for a little bit. My mom, she’s a very good one.”

McGregory sets high expectations for senior season

McGregory pulls a cell phone – protected by a bright orange case – from his shorts pocket and presses the power button, illuminating his home screen.

The screensaver is a thrown-together collage of football images, including a screenshot of a list, typed out in the notes application and partially obscured by the white letters and numbers spelling out the date and time.

His eyes hover over each line as he reads down the checklist.

Football state champion, 1,000 receiving yards, zero catches against him in coverage. Ten interceptions, four pick-sixes, at least 70 tackles, seven tackles for loss. Be a great teammate, lead by example, earn first team, all-state honors for defensive back and wide receiver. Player of the year.

During his official visits to college programs during the summer, he thought a lot about what he wanted to accomplish this season and the type of football player he wanted to be in his senior year.

The goals are lofty, almost unattainable, especially for a player who spends little time catching his breath.

This season, he threw one pass for 24 yards and a touchdown, has racked up 434 receiving yards and seven touchdowns through the air, and recorded 4.5 tackles and a fumble recovery on defense.

So, he has some catching up to do on some of those preseason goals.

But it was never about checking each of those things off the list; it was about making his mark. And, even before the season started, McGregory’s done that.

The Valley senior partnered with Back 2 School Bash – an event that provides free school supplies, haircuts, food and resources for local families – in an NIL deal this summer. It was an event that McGregory and Townsley attended when he was growing up.

He wanted to remind people where he came from and how he got to where he is now.

“He’s just such a role model in his community where he’s from, which is really the inner city,” Townsley said. “Yes, we’re at Valley now, but everybody knows where he started. And there’s just so many kids in that community that really look up to and idolize Jayden because they know him.”

McGregory accomplished a lot in his 18 years of life, and there is a lot more to come.

It’s too early to know if his final season of high school football will end with a state championship or how he’ll play in college.

But McGregory made a name for himself in Des Moines – and showed other children what’s possible in the process – and that’s enough, at least for now.

Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.

Source link

Click to comment

Iowa

Iowa House OKs ‘3 strikes’ bill with 20-year prison terms. What to know

Published

3 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Iowa House OKs ‘3 strikes’ bill with 20-year prison terms. What to know

Iowans who commit multiple serious crimes would face a mandatory 20-year prison sentence under a “three strikes” bill passed by House lawmakers.
Republicans said the bill would keep Iowans safe and “prioritize victims and public safety over criminals.”
A nonpartisan state agency says the bill would disproportionately impact Black Iowans and could require the state to spend millions to build a new prison.

Repeat offenders convicted of multiple serious crimes would receive a mandatory 20-year prison sentence under a bill passed by House lawmakers.

House lawmakers debated for more than an hour about high costs, lack of prison space and the bill’s impact on Black Iowans before voting 68-23 to pass House File 2542, sending it to the Iowa Senate.

Seven Democrats, including Minority Leader Brian Meyer, D-Des Moines, joined Republicans in voting in favor of the bill.

“It will put public safety first,” said the bill’s floor manager, Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison. “It will ensure that the debt to victims and society is paid. It will prioritize victims and public safety over criminals. It will establish real and effective deterrence that is nonexistent in our current system. It will reduce chaos and violence in our society.”

Here’s what to know about the bill.

What would the House Republican three strikes bill do?

Iowans who accumulate three strikes would face a mandatory 20-year prison sentence, with no parole, under the bill.

That would replace Iowa’s current law that says habitual offenders must serve a minimum three-year prison sentence before they are eligible for parole.

All felonies, as well as aggravated misdemeanors involving sexual abuse, domestic abuse, assault and organized retail theft would be considered level-one offenses that are worth one full strike.

Other aggravated misdemeanors, as well as serious misdemeanors involving assault, domestic abuse and criminal mischief would be considered level-two offenses worth half a strike each.

Lawmakers amended the bill to remove theft, harassment and possession of a controlled substance from the crimes that would count toward a person’s strikes.

And the amendment specifies that the bill would only apply to convictions that occur beginning July 1, 2026.

If someone is arrested and convicted of multiple offenses, only the most serious charge would count towards the defendant’s strikes.

Convictions would not count toward someone’s total if more than 20 years passes between a prior conviction and their current conviction.

Rep. Ross Wilburn, D-Ames, tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill to say that only a violent crime would qualify as someone’s third strike, but Republicans rejected the amendment.

“The bill still scores murder, felony embezzlement and felony theft the same, even though they are very different crimes,” Wilburn said. “One point is one point and three gets you 20 years with no ability for parole or judicial discretion.”

Holt said the legislation leaves room for judicial and prosecutorial discretion.

“There are deferred sentences, there are plea bargains,” he said. “There is plenty of opportunity for grace and judicial discretion in the legislation that we are proposing.”

Bill could cost millions, require Iowa to build a new prison, agency says

A fiscal analysis of the bill by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency said it could cost Iowa nearly $165 million more per year by 2031 based on the cost of housing inmates for longer prison stays.

FY 2027: $33 million
FY 2028: $66 million
FY 2029: $99 million
FY 2030: $132 million
FY 2031: $164.9 million

The agency said if the bill had been in effect between fiscal year 2020 and fiscal year 2025, there would have been 5,373 people who qualified for the 20-year mandatory minimum sentence.

“An increase in the prison population due to increased (length of stay) will require the DOC to build additional prison(s),” the agency states. “The size, security and other features that a future prison may require cannot be determined, but costs would be significant.”

The analysis noted that South Dakota appropriated $650 million last fall to build a 1,500-bed prison.

As of March 1, the Iowa Department of Corrections’ website describes the state’s prison system as being overcrowded by 25%, with 8,705 inmates compared to a capacity of 6,990.

The Office of the State Public Defender could see a projected cost increase of $1.6 million due to an increased number of trials resulting from the legislation.

But the agency’s estimates come with a caveat — the Department of Corrections did not respond to its requests for data.

“The LSA has not received a response to multiple requests for information from the DOC,” the note states. “Without additional information, the LSA cannot estimate the total fiscal impact of the bill.”

Holt called the fiscal note “an embarrassment to the Department of Corrections” and “an agenda masquerading as math.”

“It is clear, in my judgment, that because they did not like the legislation they went all out and extreme to create a fiscal note that cannot be taken seriously in its assumptions,” he said. “It assumes that nothing will change, that there will be no deterrent factor and that the numbers will continue as usual.”

Black Iowans would be disproportionately impacted by the law

The Legislative Services Agency analysis says the bill “may disproportionately impact Black individuals if trends remain constant.”

Of the 29,438 people convicted in fiscal year 2025 of felonies and aggravated misdemeanors that constitute a level one offense under the bill, the agency said about 70% were White, 22% were Black and 9% were other races.

Iowa’s overall population is 83% White, 4% Black and 13% other races, the agency said.

It’s not clear how the bill’s impact would change to account for the House amendment removing some crimes from counting towards the three strikes.

“Expanding three-strike laws will intensify disparities — and that’s what this statement shows — by mandating longer sentences, limiting judicial discretion,” Wilburn said. “We already have a habitual offender statute. We already have one in place. We have a 10-year low in recidivism in our correctional system.”

Rep. Angel Ramirez, D-Cedar Rapids, said California’s three strikes law, passed in the 1990s, worsened racial disparities, and “Iowa is about to repeat the same mistake.”

“I urge every member here, do not pass legislation that our own minority impact statement tells us will deepen inequality in our state,” Ramirez said.

Holt said minority communities in Iowa are impacted by crime and that the legislation “will make citizens of all colors safer.”

And he said the minority impact statement “tells only one side of the story, doesn’t it? It tells the criminal’s story. What about the victim’s story?”

“What about the mother who will continue to tuck her kids in at night and read them Bible stories because she never became the next victim of a violent career criminal?” he said. “Where is that data point in the minority impact statement?”

House lawmakers also approved separate legislation that would increase Iowa’s statewide bond schedule, Senate File 2399.

That bill passed on a vote of 74-19.

Iowans could see more information on judges’ rulings

Iowans would have access to more information about judges’ rulings ahead of the state’s judicial retention elections under a separate measure, House File 2719, which passed on a 73-19 vote.

The Iowa secretary of state’s office would be required to publish information including:

The percentage of cases in which the judge set a bond amount lower than the state’s bond schedule
The frequency that the judge releases someone on their own recognizance for a violent offense compared to a nonviolent offense
The frequency that the judge’s final sentence is lower than statutory recommendations or a prosecutor’s recommendations
The number of times the judge issues a deferred judgement, deferred sentence or suspended sentence
The number of times the judge’s rulings are reversed on appeal due to abuse of discretion or error of law
The average time it takes the judge to rule on a motion or case
The number of cases the judge has resolved compared to the number of cases on the judge’s docket

The data would have to be displayed with a five-year trend line beginning five years after the bill takes effect.

The Secretary of State’s Office would also be required to maintain a searchable database of all judicial opinions and orders for the judge’s current term and the preceding six years. The decisions would be redacted when appropriate.

And judges would have the opportunity to write a 2,000-word personal statement on their judicial philosophy or data trends present in their rulings.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on X at @sgrubermiller.

Source link

Iowa

Man sentenced for killing 4 people appeals his sentence to the Iowa Supreme Court

Published

15 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Man sentenced for killing 4 people appeals his sentence to the Iowa Supreme Court

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Luke Truesdell’s attorney has filed as of Sunday to appeal his sentence to the Iowa Supreme Court.

Truesdell was sentenced last week to three consecutive life sentences plus 50 years for the deaths of four people killed in rural Linn County.

A jury convicted Luke Truesdell, 36, in November on the first-degree murder of Brent Brown, 34; his girlfriend, Keonna Ryan, 26, of Cedar Rapids; and Amanda Parker, 33, of Vinton. They also found him guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Romondus Cooper, 44, of Cedar Rapids.

His attorneys previously argued multiple reasons for a retrial that could potentially be brought up again.

They said that one juror was overheard talking about news on the case.

They also said the prosecutors inflamed the jury, rather than focusing on the facts.

His lawyers said there is no direct evidence that Truesdell committed the murders.

Truesdell’s defense also pointed to Truesdell’s father, Larry Tuesdell, who was found covered in blood at the scene but never fully investigated. Authorities have not been able to locate Larry.

The state disagreed, citing overwhelming evidence including DNA on the murder weapon, eyewitness testimony and video of Truesdell entering the garage where the four people were found dead.

Source link

Iowa

2026 Iowa high school boys basketball state tournament brackets, schedule

Published

1 day ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

2026 Iowa high school boys basketball state tournament brackets, schedule

The Iowa high school boys state basketball tournament is just around the corner and the full field has now been set.

By March 13, four teams will be crowned state champions and there are plenty of worthy squads vying for the title. On Tuesday, the final brackets were released and we now have a clear picture of the eight teams in each class hoping to take home the trophy.

Here’s a look at the first-round pairings and the full state tournament schedule for next week’s IHSAA action.