South Dakota State lands two-way standout Jerron Heller from Okoboji

South Dakota State kept doing what has made it a preseason standard in FCS football: it added another Iowa athlete whose best traits travel well to the next level. Jerron Heller, the Okoboji linebacker and tight end, committed to the Jackrabbits after building a résumé that blends production, length and the kind of multi-sport athleticism Brookings has long valued.

Heller listed at 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds, and his junior season showed why the Jackrabbits moved quickly. He made 80 tackles, 61 of them solo, piled up 13.5 tackles for loss and added 2.5 sacks. He also forced a fumble, recovered two, intercepted a pass and returned one fumble for a touchdown, the sort of all-over-the-field production that gives a defense a turnover threat and a downhill tackler in the same body.

South Dakota State did not recruit him as a one-role player. Heller also caught 21 passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns for Okoboji, giving the Cowboys another option in space and underscoring the versatility that makes him such a clean fit for a program that has turned flexible defenders into championship pieces. Prep Redzone listed him in the 2027 class and added even more athletic detail, including a 4.59-second 40-yard dash, an 11.4-second 100 meters, a 6-foot-9 wingspan and a 35-inch vertical leap. It also noted first-team all-state honors from the Des Moines Register and district defensive player of the year recognition.

The track resume is just as striking. Heller broke the Okoboji school record in the 400-meter hurdles, then placed third in both the 400 hurdles and the 110 hurdles at the 2026 Iowa High School Track & Field Championships, running 53.07 seconds in the 400 and 14.51 in the 110 final. At the Spirit Lake state-qualifying meet on May 14, he was second in the 400 hurdles in 54.38. That speed and body control should matter at the next level, especially once a college strength program sharpens his frame.

The commitment also fits the broader South Dakota State model. On3 listed the Jackrabbits with 15 high school commits in their 2026 class as of January 12, so Heller joined an already-established group rather than a thin class in need of a headliner. He had visited Brookings for junior day in February, later drew an offer from South Dakota in April and had previously been offered by Northwestern College before choosing the reigning standard-bearer in the subdivision.

For South Dakota State, this is the kind of addition that sustains the program’s edge. Heller gives the Jackrabbits another Iowa defender with the speed to close space, the frame to add bulk and the instincts to create chaos, exactly the profile that keeps them near the top of the FCS hierarchy and in the playoff conversation every fall.