Former Iowa RB Derrick Mitchell Jr. Dies in Car Crash at Age 24

Former Iowa Hawkeyes running back Derrick Mitchell Jr. died at the age of 24 after suffering injuries in a car crash. 

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz confirmed as much during his Tuesday press conference, per Dargan Southard of Hawk Central (h/t USA Today):

"On a somber note, I think all of us are very sorry to hear about Derrick Mitchell. He was involved in an accident last Friday morning, and we knew that was a tough circumstance. Just a very tough thing, and way, way too young for something like that to happen.

"Feeling and condolences are certainly with his entire family."

Mitchell played for Iowa from 2014 through 2016 and enjoyed his best individual campaign in 2015. He finished with 162 rushing yards, 141 receiving yards and two touchdowns and helped lead the Hawkeyes to the Big Ten Championship Game.

While Iowa lost that conference title game to the Michigan State Spartans, Mitchell was his team’s leading rusher with 24 yards.

Southard noted he left the Hawkeyes in 2017 as a graduate transfer and elected to play for Incarnate Word in the Football Championship Series after initially choosing Texas Tech. He was the Cardinals’ leading rusher in 2017.