When Andrei Iosivas was offered a chance to play football at Princeton, his reaction was simple and honest.
“I wasn’t getting any big (Division I) looks, so that was as good as it probably was going to get for me,” the 2018 Punahou alumnus recalled.
Four years later and there’s a chance his life is going to exceed even his own wildest dreams.
The 6-foot-3, 200-pound wide receiver has molded himself into not just one of the best pass catchers in the Ivy League, but a player good enough to possibly hear his name called in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Before the season, he was listed between Clemson defensive tackle Bryan Bresee and TCU defensive end Dylan Horton at No. 15 on a list compiled by The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman of the top 100 college football freaks.
That began a wave of momentum that culminated last week with his accepting an invite to play in the Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., on Feb. 4.
“It’s nice to see that kind of stuff,” Iosivas said in a phone interview Tuesday. “(The NFL) has kind of more and more become a reality as time went on, but for me, I’ve just kind of kept working.”
As a high school senior, he didn’t receive a single FBS offer. During his first season at Princeton, he wasn’t good enough to make the travel team, much less play a single snap.
He admitted he was homesick when a conversation from one of his coaches changed his entire mindset.
“I didn’t really have those big expectations for myself because of my high school career. I was just ready to work,” Iosivas said. “I didn’t get a single second of playing time, but my coach told me they think I have raw talent and the potential to be one of our best NFL prospects ever.
“I was taken aback by it, thinking that was kind of crazy, but I didn’t think he was (messing with) me because he’s really not that kind of guy.”
He didn’t need to look far to find inspiration. The Tigers went 10-0 during his freshman year and their top two receivers were Jesper Horsted and Stephen Carlson.
Both went undrafted but eventually made NFL active rosters in 2019 and caught touchdown passes in regular-season games.
“They kind of set the standard for me,” Iosivas said. “(Princeton) puts a lot of people in the NFL, and so I was just ready to work and make a name for myself. I was never the star for football, so I always have had a chip on my shoulder to outwork everybody to be better.”
Part of that work includes a decorated track and field career that has played a major part in his NFL dreams.
He’s a three-time Ivy League champion in the heptathlon and finished fourth in the event at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March to earn first-team All-America status.
Even bigger was his performance in the 60-meter sprint, which is one of seven events in the indoor heptathlon. Iosivas ran it in 6.71 seconds to set a meet record.
In football terms, that translates to a 4.22 in the 40-yard dash, which got the attention of scouts and agents.
“I think people saw that and were like, ‘Who’s this athletic kid who also plays football?’ ” Iosivas said. “I’m not sure how true that (4.22) time is because it was out of the block and on a track, but yeah, that was huge. Track has helped me a lot.”
With all of this newfound attention swirling around him, Iosivas has tried to keep things simple for his senior year of football.
Heading into his final game Saturday against Penn, Iosivas is averaging more than 100 yards receiving a game, with 64 catches for 912 yards and six touchdowns, leading the Tigers in each category.
Princeton (8-1) can earn at least a share of the Ivy League title with a win. The Tigers are 35-4 during Iosivas’ career.
“We have a good culture and a good team and we have a good offense, so you can’t really ask for much more than that,” Iosivas said. “On the East Coast people know Princeton is usually pretty good. We’ve been ranked in the top 25 FCS teams all four years I’ve been here, so yeah, it’s been great.”
In order to prepare for the draft, Iosivas said he won’t compete in the heptathlon but might participate in some sprints.
As for everything else, he said he won’t start thinking about that until Saturday’s game is over.
“Once the season ends I’ll sit down and cobble together a plan,” Iosivas said. “Right now I’m just excited for my final game trying to take it as going 1-0 like we do every other game. Then after that we’ll start to figure out what’s next.”
Andrei Iosivas
>> School: Princeton
>>Class: Senior
>>Height: 6 feet 3
>> Weight: 200 pounds
>> Position: Wide receiver
>> High school: Punahou (2018)
CAREER STATISTICS
YEAR GP REC YDS TD
2019 9 18 263 4
2021 10 41 703 5
2022 9 64 912 6
TOTAL 28 123 1,878 15
