Iosivas replicated sufficient that he went from 6-5 to 6-10 and 1 / 4 within the excessive bounce throughout the identical day. He additionally discovered to pole vault, racked up a career-best 16-1, and Samara thought he was quickly headed to 17 toes.

Whereas an damage, COVID and soccer (which has at all times been his focus) doomed his decathlon profession as a freshman, he turned to the heptathlon and within the 2021-22 indoor season he completed fourth within the NCAA meet as a junior with a heptathlon meet-record 6.71 seconds within the 60-meter sprint to prime off a 12 months he had the nation’s greatest rating in an earlier meet.

Because the Bengals discovered in Thursday’s staff assembly when the trivia query was placed on the display screen, there are seven occasions within the heptathlon and after Iosivas ticked them off (60 meters, lengthy bounce, shot put, excessive bounce, 60-meter hurdles, pole vault, 1,000 meters), he acquired a spherical of applause.

“Let’s examine if he can translate that to soccer as a result of that is spectacular,” says particular groups captain Michael Thomas. “Any time you are competing like that among the many greatest, yeah, I am going to clap. I might need been the primary one.”

One factor that interprets to soccer is the repetition. Equivalent to that meet the place he gained 5 inches within the excessive bounce.

“When he got here again from every bounce,” Samara says, “I’d inform him, ‘Do that or do not try this or do not do that.’ And bang, bang, bang.”

That is just about what he is making an attempt to do whereas watching Higgins.

“An enormous factor for me is dropping my hips,” Iosivas says. “When he informed me tips on how to do it and I noticed how he did it, he actually confirmed me in entrance of him,” Iosivas says. Seeing it on video is completely different than seeing it in actual life. Present me, replicate and do it proper there as nicely.”

With the calls for of soccer, Iosivas mainly admitted at this previous NFL scouting mix that these gaudy monitor numbers have been just about achieved on the aspect. Which is the best way he needs it. He wished to make it clear because the league evaluated him. He is a soccer participant who ran monitor and it wasn’t the opposite method round.

He did not compete this 12 months as a result of he was auditioning for the NFL, however Samara had him projected so extremely as a possible decathlete as a result of the highest two finishers from final 12 months’s NCAA indoors heptathlon championships each went into this 12 months within the prime ten on the earth within the decathlon.

“He got here in fourth, so he completed amongst some fairly formidable competitors,” Samara says. “Figuring out Andrei, you can provide him a shot and let him develop and he’ll be a very good one.”

The primary shot comes from particular groups coordinator Darrin Simmons and very like Samara did with the heptathlon, Simmons is instructing Iosivas from scratch.