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62 Bechta) told me to stay patient and I would have a team by the end of the day. Sure enough, the Cowboys called." Two days after being selected in the NFL Draft, Hitch- ens was back in Iowa City taking two final exams. He had one more May 13. On May 14 he packed his belongings and he arrived in Big D on May 15. Hitchens said his three position changes at the Univer- sity of Iowa helped him grow quicker than the average college football player. "I always had confidence in my goals," Hitchens said. "I just tried to get better, stay focused, and kept work- ing at whatever position they put me." Hitchens is the seventh Hawkeye linebacker to play under head coach Kirk Ferentz to be drafted. The most recent draft marks the third time since 2006 that mul- tiple Iowa linebackers were selected in the same year. Chad Greenway and Abdul Hodge were taken in 2006, Pat Angerer and A.J. Edds in 2010, and Kirksey and Hitchens in 2014. It has been 30 years since the Cowboys drafted some- one from the UI: Norm Granger went in the fifth round and Joe Levelis in the sixth in 1984. University of Iowa linebackers Anthony Hitchens (31) and James Morris (44) wrap up Louisiana State University running back Jeremy Hill during the first half of the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1, 2014 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Brian Ray)